A CAR repairman has spoken of his gratitude to the residents of Market Lavington for their support after he was landed with a £5,000 bill of fines and costs at a court hearing he didn't even know about.

Ian Wooller, 37, who has been running his car repair workshop at Woodlands Yard off the High Street for over four years, was shocked to receive notification from the South East Wiltshire Magistrates' Court service that he had been convicted in his absence on September 23 of five counts of breaching his planning conditions.

He said: "It was a complete shock. I had had a couple of appearances at Devizes court but I heard nothing until I got this demand. If I can't get back to court and put my side of the case, this will close me down.

"It costs me £1,000 a month to operate from here in rent, rates and other overheads and, although I'm snowed under with work, there aren't enough hours in the day to do it all."

Kennet District Council prosecuted Mr Wooller after receiving complaints from neighbours that he was working with the door to his workshop open and breaching his operating hours, which are 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturday.

Mr Wooller said: "It's just one bloke. He saw me washing my car at 2.30pm one Saturday afternoon and complained to the council. The council officer came along and said, according to their records, I was still registered as Lavington Dairy.

"But the operator here before me was a garage, so he got away with it all the years he was here."

Graham Lunn, whose business, Alphatec, is based just a few doors from Mr Wooller's workshop said: "I think it is disgraceful how Ian has been persecuted by the council. He has been there four years and we have never had a problem with him.

"There used to be a glassblowing studio across from him and they used to have the door open and a radio blaring away. I think Ian got blamed for that, but it had nothing to do with him."

Dr John Reid, one of the district councillors for the Lavingtons, has been inundated with letters from local residents asking him to take up Mr Wooller's case.

He said: "I have a whole sheaf of letters from constituents saying how shabbily this man has been treated. They describe him as a thoroughly good, reliable chap and the loss of his business would not just be a blow to him but to the whole community.

"This man looks after his elderly parents and if he has to close down it will hit him very hard. It is an absurdly high level of fines and costs he has been landed with."

"I understand there was just one complainant. I am surprised that Kennet has taken just one man's word over the many other people in the area who have never had a problem with him."

But Ted Howles, Kennet's planning services manager, said that there was more than one complainant although confidentiality barred him from saying how many there were. One complainant gave evidence at Salisbury Magistrates' Court.

He said: "Although Mr Wooller was not present at the hearing in Salisbury, we went ahead on the advice of the justices' clerk.

"Mr Wooller had been visited on a number of occasions and advised as to how he had to operate within his planning conditions.

"He was prosecuted for operating noisy machinery with the door open and breaching his operating hours by cleaning vehicles on a Saturday afternoon.

"He can appeal to a higher court."