Tory councillor has Land Rover tyres slashed in furious village planning row

A councillor had all his tyres slashed - after clamping down on planning breaches.

Cllr Terry Mendies says he left a community council meeting and found his Land Rover Discovery with all four tyres cut and bodywork scratched.

There was also damage to the car’s number plate and the car had to be recovered in the pitch black.

The crime, which has been reported to North Wales Police, occurred whilst Terry was in a council meeting on Thursday, October 3.

The Conservative Denbighshire County councillor in Wales believes the damage was caused because of his determination to pursue breaches in planning regulations.

Terry said: "I came out in the pitch black, tried to drive off and thought the handbrake was on!

"I have not been left feeling threatened because the only way to stand up to bullies is to confront them.

"However, the implements used to slash a five-inch gash on a four wheel drive tyre would have had to be quite sharp, possibly a machete.

"It could have been a whole different scenario if I had not been inside whilst they were doing it.

"But I won't be intimidated - it only makes me more determined to pursue these breaches."

Terry says all four tyres need replacing and estimates the cost of repairing the car total damage will be between £1,000 and £1,500.

After the Alyn ward councillor was elected two-and-a-half years ago, he explained how he inherited the most planning breaches any county council officer had ever received.

Planning breaches incur when someone has build properties or structures without the appropriate planning permission.

Terry explained how some breaches were 'minor' and some of a 'major' nature - even dating back 20 years.

Terry believes his recent crackdown on the breaches has made him a target to a particular member of the rural community, who is responsible for one of the breaches.

He said: "It makes me absolutely furious that firstly, people are getting away with this.

"Secondly, how it taken so long for council officers to get on top of it and finally, how the problem is not diminishing - it's growing!"

The councillor highlighted how the breaches have gone from 250 around 16 to 18 months ago to 561 this month.

He said: "The DCC have let this slide and let this slide and I wont!"

Terry explains when tackling planning breaches - a DCC officer must process an audit of the illegally built building, or buildings, and then issue an enforcement notice.

He said: "They can either apply for a retrospective planning permission or knock it down.

"Or if they do not comply with the notice, the council can go in and tear down building and then bill them.

"We cannot have people building illegally in rural areas. I am determined to fix the inefficiency."

A North Wales Police spokesperson said: "We received a report of a car being damaged in Llandegla, Denbighshire, on October 5th. The car was scratched and the tyres slashed whilst it was parked in Llandegla between 7-8pm on October 3rd.

"We would ask anyone with information to contact police via our website or by calling 101, quoting reference Q150380."