A vehicle dumper who abandoned up to 25 vans has been told to pay up more than £7,000.

Haig Squire, who lives in Minster, was fined for a second time after being found guilty at court for vehicle dumping.

Medway magistrates found he had “abandoned, derelict vehicles around Sheppey that were a fire hazard and an attraction for rodents and waste” on Friday, March 21.

But it is not the first time the 47-year-old, who owns 35 properties, has been penalized for vehicle dumping offences that earned him the nickname “van man”.

A case was opened against him by Swale council, which had launched an investigation in April 2020 after it received more than 80 reports from the public, with some complaints stretching back as far as 2016.

Squire was issued with a Community Protection Notice (CPN) in 2020, which required him to stop immediately.

The CPN stated the vehicles were causing an obstruction, limiting parking for others in the area, were untidy, being used for commercial storage and a safety concern.

But Squire failed to comply with the conditions of the CPN, and Maidstone Magistrates’ Court fined him in 2022 after it found he had left six large vehicles scattered around Sheppey, including in The Ship on Shore car park in Marine Parade.

Despite this, Squire continued to breach the CPN and was found to have actually added to the number of vehicles being parked, mainly in Marine Town, New Road and Blue Town.

The council took him back to court, and on March 21, Medway Magistrates’ Court ordered him to pay a £1,760 fine, a £704 surcharge and legal costs of £4,531.18, bringing the total amount to £7,001.18.

Swale council says the “consistent action” has now seen the vehicles removed.

It is, however, monitoring the situation and says it will “take further action if necessary”.

Meanwhile, Swale commander of Kent Police Chief Inspector Vanessa Foster says a repeat of this “anti-social activity” will be met by a “robust” response.

She said: “We and the council received multiple complaints from residents about these unroadworthy vehicles that were causing a hazard whilst placed in car parks and other public spaces across the area.

“We were pleased to support the work of the council’s environmental enforcement team in taking action against the person responsible.”

Squire has previously been prosecuted after he refused to demolish an outbuilding he built in the garden of one of his properties in Augustine Road, Minster, without planning permission more than seven years ago.

On January 7, Squire pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to a breach of the enforcement notice.

He was fined £12,000 and must pay legal costs of almost £10,000 and a £2,000 surcharge and will end up in prison if he fails to pay.