Man fined for illegally selling cars
Wednesday 15 February 2012
A Coventry man has been fined £1,000 after the Council caught him selling cars illegally on Holyhead Road.
Michael Bullock, aged 46, of Holyhead Road, was also ordered to pay £1,313 in costs by Coventry Magistrates, who found him guilty in his absence on February 14 after he failed to turn up to a trial.
The court heard how officers from the Council's Environmental Crime Unit were investigating reports of a number of cars being sold on Holyhead Road in June 2011.
An officer approached the seller of a car with For Sale signs on it but then also asked about another car nearby which he suspected was also being sold.
The trader denied it but further investigation found it was advertised for sale on an auction website.
Mr Bullock had previously denied the charge under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 of selling two or more vehicles on the highway within 500 metres of each other.
Cllr Rachel Lancaster, Chair of the Community Safety Scrutiny Board, said: "Using the public highway as some kind of makeshift showroom is something that residents in a number of areas have been telling us they've had enough of.
"We're determined to tackle these nuisance sales. Not only do they take up parking spaces but they can cause excess noise too and it's not fair for residents to be disturbed by traders abusing the highway.
"I'm delighted with this outcome and the message it sends out to others thinking of doing the same."
