A landowner faces 16 months in jail if he doesn’t pay a £60,000 fine and £40,000 in costs after allowing the illegal dumping of waste on his farm.

Langley Beck was finally sentenced for allowing his land at Boxley Woods near Maidstone to be used as an illegal dump for commercial and industrial waste, following a legal battle that has dragged on since 2014.

Beck owns 36 acres in Boxley Woods off Bell Lane, which, over the course of many years, has been blighted by illegal dumping and burning, which has resulted in extensive contamination.

The site falls within the North Kent Downs National Landscape (formerly known as an Area of Natural Beauty.)

Maidstone council first launched enforcement action against Beck in 2014, but had already spent several years before that trying unsuccessfully to persuade Beck to clean up the land voluntarily.

After he was convicted in March this year, he was finally sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court by Judge Julian Smith.

Beck was fined £60,000 and was ordered to pay £40,000 costs to the council, along with a victim surcharge of £170.

He must pay the costs within 12 months or go to prison.

Cllr Clive English, Maidstone’s cabinet member for environmental services and enforcement, said: “The sentencing of Mr Beck should send a clear message that this type of illegal dumping of waste will not be tolerated, it contaminates and destroys the land and surrounding areas.

“The council has worked closely with its partner agencies to take the strongest possible action against people like Mr Beck who repeatedly flout the law.”

Beck was served an enforcement notice in 2014 requiring him to stop living on the land and for the unlawful disposal of waste and car parts to cease, and to restore the land.

But instead, the dumping continued and the area expanded.

The council launched court proceedings in 2021, obtaining a High Court Injunction against Beck - which he also then also ignored.

Cllr Tony Harwood, cabinet member for planning policy, said: “The council has worked hard in trying to stop the catastrophic harm being inflicted on this ancient woodland site and ensure a clean-up with the landowner - over many years. However, he chose to ignore an Enforcement Notice and then an Injunction.

“Although this has been a long, complex and extremely difficult case, the outcome is appropriate and sends out a strong message that Maidstone will not tolerate the abuse of our precious countryside.

“This sentence now brings these particular criminal proceedings to a close, but we vow to be just as tough with those other offenders we are actively enforcing against.”

The court also ordered Beck to stop living on the land - he had being there in a portable building, despite owning a house nearby - and told him to clear the land up within 18 months.

If he fails to do that, the council can return to the court to seek Beck’s imprisonment.

Beck has already been convicted in April 2023 of contempt of court, after he failed to comply with a previous court order to clear up the land. On that occasion, he was handed a four-month suspended prison sentence.

Both court cases had been subject to frequent delays - sometimes because Beck failed to appear, sometimes because he was not represented by a solicitor and on one occasion, his solicitor had argued that Beck was unfit to plead because he suffered from a “hoarding disorder.” That argument was not accepted by the court.

Beck also had a previous unrelated conviction for animal neglect in 2019, when RSPCA inspectors found he kept dogs and ducks in disgusting conditions.

KentOnline reporter Katie Heslop had visited the Boxley Wood site back in April 2021, and even then it was best described as a huge waste tip.

At the time, Beck told our reporter he had been storing and breaking-up vehicles on the site since as early as 1993.

He claimed that when he began, it had not been necessary to obtain a licence for such activities.