Rob Knight, 88, is a farmer facing prison after he refused to pay for a small part of a wall he knocked down on his land, one that he himself erected 50 years ago
Ron Knight is refusing to give up his fight against the council(Image: SWNS)
A farmer has vowed to “die in prison” rather than pay a £3,000 fine for a boundary wall he built 50 years ago.
Ron Knight, 88, says he has faced six years of a “living nightmare” since he received a planning enforcement notice from Somerset Council for removing some of his concrete wall to allow access to the land. Knight said he constructed it in 1973, but when he took part of it down in 2017, he was told it was “historic” and planning permission was required.
The annoyed farmer has now been in court four times after he missed the deadline to appeal and racked up thousands of pounds in fines he says he cannot pay.
Knight refuses to rebuild a small portion of the wall(Image: SWNS)
A judge told Knight in October 2024 he would face 45 days behind bars if he did not rebuild the wall and repay the amount of fines. According to the Sun, Knight’s pleas have continued to fall on deaf ears and he’d rather be locked up “if it’s the last thing he does”.
“It is getting us all down. We are all sick and tired and fed up,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what we say, they don’t take any notice. Standing up for myself and being prepared to go to jail is the only way I can see to get anyone to see sense.”
Somerset Council has defended its actions and enforcement actions remain ongoing.
The farmer says the whole thing has been a ‘bloody nuisance’ (Image: SWNS)
“Put politely, it’s been a bloody nuisance. Six years now it’s been going on,” added Knight. “After we sold, we decided to keep six acres of land and some allotments. We had right of way to go through there – it was the only way to get into it.
“It was then blocked completely. I got two grandsons to help me take part of the wall down. We got the foundation out and made a gap so we could go out with the tractors and everything.”
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