A pensioner who was punished for attempting to preserve an historic fountain will face no further action, a council has confirmed.

Folkestone resident Bob Mouland, 71, was served with a community protection warning after taking it upon himself to make repairs to the Sidney Cooper Weston Fountain in Wear Bay Road.

Mr Mouland was given the warning after refusing to stop painting the unique but run down fountain, which sits in the Bruce Porter Garden.

The cast iron sculpture, which is more than 100 years old, no longer works as a fountain and over the years has rusted and been left with peeling paint.

For the last month the pensioner visited the fountain daily and spent hours restoring and painting it, to prevent it falling into an even worse state.

But on Monday a community enforcement officer served him the notice, which comes under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which deals with "unreasonable, ongoing problems or nuisances which negatively affect the community’s quality of life by targeting the person responsible".

The legislation consolidated previous powers, the most well-known of which were anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs).

Following a public outcry sparked by a KentOnline article yesterday, Folkestone and Hythe District Council (FHDC) has issued a statement saying it would now be working with Mr Mouland to finish his project.

A spokesman said: "It came to our attention that work was being carried out on the listed Sidney Cooper Weston Fountain, which is potentially an offence without obtaining the relevant permissions first.

"An enforcement officer attended the site and asked Mr Mouland to stop – a request which was repeatedly rejected.

"We were therefore left with no alternative, due to the sensitivities of the structure, than to issue a community protection warning – not an ASBO – to allow for further investigations to be carried out by our planning team.

"Having assessed the work that has been done so far, we are satisfied that there have been no material changes made to this listed structure.

"We are now happy to work alongside Mr Mouland to complete this project and no further action will be taken against him.

"We are always open to working in partnership with residents and local stakeholders in helping to make our district the extraordinary place it is, but things should always be approached in the right way to avoid unfortunate events such as these."

While the pensioner will be able to complete the project with no further punishment, there was no mention in the statement of rescinding the original warning, nor public apology on behalf of the council.

Town Cllr Mary Lawes, a friend of Mr Mouland who spoke up in support of him, responded to the council saying: "Thank you for this.

"Let him finish that last remaining bits. It would be great if you could tear up the ASB warning too."

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