VILLAGERS say picturesque views from their back gardens have been spoiled after a nightmare neighbour dumped two 15ft trailers behind their fences.
The whopping articulated haulage containers, each of which is emblazoned with ads for Laila rice, have been parked up in pretty Guist, Norfolk.
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They’re so huge they tower over garden fences – leaving locals furious.
Both were wheeled in six weeks ago by truck driver Carl Lake, who is reportedly refusing to move them – and says he’ll instead put a roof over the trailers to create a workshop.
Officials from Breckland Council are still looking into whether any planning rules have been broken.
Claire O’Brien, 54, said she’s unable to enjoy her own garden because of the looming vehicles.
“I was at home when the first trailer arrived and I thought, ‘Oh no’, and then a tractor came with the second one an hour later,” she said.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The two trailers are a monstrosity and they have completely ruined my garden.
“I went round and said to Mr Lake, ‘Please tell me you’re not leaving those things there.’
“That’s when he told me he wanted to put a roof between the two of them to make a workshop as he had a vintage tractor he was doing up.”
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She immediately emailed the council, who replied to say they’ve contacted Mr Lake.
“I know you don’t own the view from your home, and I realise it is his land, and he can do what he wants, but there seems to be no consideration on the impact it has on other people,” Mrs O’Brien said.
“The council has its procedures to go through, but nothing seems to have happened since they arrived six weeks ago.”
She said Mr Lake has offered to screen the trailers by building leylandii trees or removing the tyres, which would reduce their height by several feet.
“We would still be able to see them,” she added.
‘MONSTROSITY’
“If he wants a workshop on his land, he should apply for planning permission and do it properly, rather than trying to mess around with a couple of trailers.
“We are converting our house to provide room for my father who has severe dementia, and this trailer will be the view he gets from his room.”
Mrs O’Brien’s husband Mike, 54, joked that while the woman painted on the trailer is “very pretty”, her face “almost glows in the dark”.
“It’s very off-putting to have her staring at you the whole time when you’re in your garden,” he said.
Another neighbour, retired beauty salon owner Sandra Ashmore, said: “It used to be lovely to sit out in our garden in the evening – but now that’s been ruined.
“We had no warning at all that these two trailers were going to arrive. Mr Lake must have got them from somewhere.
NEIGHBOURS’ FURY
“We like to eat in our conservatory in the summer, and now we have to put up with the view of these two trailers.
“They are the first thing I see from our main bedroom when I get up in the morning.”
Mrs Ashmore, 74, said her partner Freddie Cosson, 84, who is battling cancer, doesn’t like sitting in the garden anymore.
“It is such a shame because we have lovely weather at the moment, but we can’t enjoy our own garden,” she said.
“Who wants to sit out here and look at those things?
It used to be lovely to sit out in our garden in the evening – but now that has been ruined
Sandra Ashmore
“I’m sure they can’t legally be dumped beside our fence – but that’s exactly what Mr Lake has done. My neighbour Claire came round in tears when they were dumped here.”
She said no one from the council has “been around or bothered to look”.
“I know Mr Lake is a lorry driver. He seems a pleasant man, and I’ve got nothing against him, but he needs to sort this out,” she added.
“I invited him round to have a look from our garden, and he came round. I told him that he wouldn’t want to live with that view, and he admitted they were an eyesore.”
Mr Lake, 45, told The Sun: “All I am going to say is that I’m waiting for the council to come back and clarify what I can do.”
Earlier he told a reporter that he wanted to build “a hobby workshop” out of the trailers, but he declined to elaborate on his plans today.
A Breckland Council spokesperson said last week: “At this stage we are still in discussions with the landowner.”
They said it was “too early” to establish if any planning rules have been broken.
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