Banbury town centre land owner fined £10,000 over untidy walkway

The owner of Malthouse Walk in Banbury has been fined for not keeping the area tidy.

A Banbury landowner has been fined £10,000 for failing to keep a town centre walkway tidy.

The counsel for Shimon Roter, director of Malthouse Banbury Ltd and the landowner of Malthouse Walk, pleaded guilty on his behalf to five offences resulting in the magistrates ordering the company to pay a total of £10,008.18, including fines and costs.

Cllr Dan Sames, the portfolio holder for cleaner and greener communities, said: “We’re proud of our district’s public spaces and recognise that anyone who uses Banbury town centre deserves to see clean and tidy streets.

“Local people and councillors have been concerned about the appearance of Malthouse Walk for some time and we have taken enforcement action to make sure the landowner has a regular cleaning programme in place to keep it to the standard that the public expect.

“His failure to respond has cost the public purse a considerable amount of money, and I am pleased that by securing this prosecution we not only lay down an important marker but recover the costs to the taxpayer.”

Malthouse Banbury Ltd must now pay £4,508.18 of costs. This total includes time spent cleaning up litter when Cherwell stepped in last February, when the company was in breach of a community protection notice.

The company was also fined £1,000 per offence for five breaches of community protection notices and must pay a £500 victim surcharge.

The landowner Shimon Roter says he has now employed a new cleaning agency and the council will continue to monitor the condition of Malthouse Walk.