A Billericay couple were yesterday vindicated after a government ombudsman found council workers guilty of maladministration.

Planning bosses at Basildon Council were reeling after the damning attack on them from the local authority watchdog.

The officials were asked to pay more than £500 to an elderly couple who accused the them of acting too slowly over a planning enforcement case.

Ombudsman Jerry White investigated the couple's seven-year battle for action and criticised the council for what he described as "maladministration causing injustice."

Mr White also recommended the council pays the complainants £500, plus a further sum to be agreed with him.

In a statement, the ombudsman said the case concerned a Mr and Mrs Smith - not their real names. They have asked us not to reveal their names.

The Smiths live next door to a fish farm in Noak Bridge, Billericay, and access to the site runs close to their home.

The council delayed taking action against their neighbour for opening the fish farm in 1993, allegedly without planning permission.

This led to the couple suffering considerable noise and traffic from visitors to the farm.

The couple claim they experienced a constant stream of cars passing alongside their house, invasion of privacy, unsightly advertising signs and flooding in their garden.

Now Mr White, one of three local government ombudsmen who investigated complaints against local authorities, has recommended in the report that Basildon Council:

Pay Mr and Mrs Smith £500 for their uncertainty coming from the delay in having the planning position clarified and the time and trouble in following up their protests

Pay a further sum to be agreed with the ombudsman in respect of any injustice which might derive from the effects of a decision to be reached regarding the site by a planning inspector.

Now the council officers have to consider the report and tell the ombudsman what action they are prepared to take.

A council spokesman would not talk about the ombudsman's decision other than to say: "We are looking into his report."

The fish farm owner has lost an appeal against two enforcement notices, involving the use of a building and the land. He has been given six months to close down the farm.

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