Man ran out of 'time and patience' after he was told to tidy his garden by South Tyneside Council

Ewart Wilson, 68, admitted his failings when he appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to a charge related to his home in Bywell Road, Cleadon.

He was prosecuted by council chiefs after they made repeated attempts to get him to tidy up during the spring and summer of last year.

They even pinned a follow-up warning letter to his front door after being tipped off by neighbours it would likely not be seen among a pile of mail lying on his hall carpet.

Dennis Rice, prosecuting for South Tyneside Council, said: “This relates to his home address and is about complaints about the state of his front garden and rubbish.

“A letter was sent last March, asking him to remove rubbish and clear trees.

“On May 11, a neighbour advised that a pile of post in his hall meant that the letter couldn’t be guaranteed to be read.

“The letter was posted onto the door but by June, it had been removed and some work had been done.

“There was a site visit again in July. The council officer said that the defendant was letting the rubbish continue as it was.”

Wilson pleaded guilty to a charge of being an individual who had failed to comply with a community protection notice on June 14, 2023.

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The charge states he had failed to comply with a requirement to remove all waste from the curtilage of his premises and had not cut back overgrown vegetation.

Mr Rice said the prosecution had gone ahead despite Wilson producing photographic evidence he had since carried out the necessary improvements.

Defending himself, Wilson told the court: “I didn’t ignore it. I wanted to salvage things that were in the back. I tried to do it by myself, but I ran out of time and patience.”

Magistrates fined Wilson £41 and ordered him to pay £150 court costs and a £16 victim surcharge.