‘Britain’s worst garden makeover’ so bad gardener was taken to COURT
A GARDENER botched a landscaping job so badly he was taken to COURT and fined thousands of pounds.
Daryl Sanders, from Hartlepool, County Durham, left a couple's garden "looking like an eyesore" as he carried out arguably Britain's worst lawn makeover.
Teesside Magistrates Court heard how the pair employed Sanders to landscape part of their property in May 2020, paying him £5,900 for the job.
But after Sanders finished the task, a number of problems popped up - including loose paving slabs and edging blocks which had been laid over a thin sub-base put directly onto existing turf with no digging out.
Some of the blocks could simply be lifted by hand and the grouting cracked straight away, allowing weeds to spread.
The new turf was sinking in places and the couple found that it had simply been laid on top of old upturned, diseased patch of grass.
A concrete base which was requested to be a set size for a particular garden shed was also made too small, meaning that the outdoor building would not fit.
Sanders was asked to return to rectify the work and he agreed to do so ten times, but failed to turn up time and again.
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With no resolution met, the couple followed the small claims track and were successful.
But no payments were coughed up by Sanders, and so the pair were forced to contact Hartlepool Trading Standards, who arranged to have the works assessed by a chartered member of the Landscape Institute.
A report concluded the works hadn’t been done to an acceptable standard for a paid service and would cost the householder more to rectify and reinstate the materials in an acceptable fashion.
Sanders pleaded guilty to performing unsatisfactory landscaping works without reasonable care and skill and was ordered to pay more than £2,600 in fines and costs.
Neil Harrison, senior trading standards officer for Hartlepool Borough Council, said: “The Trading Standards department will not hesitate to take action against those who rip-off consumers in this fashion.
"All traders are capable of a poor job once in a while but the number of problems with this work was simply unacceptable and coupled with the failure of the trader to return and put matters right a prosecution was deemed an appropriate course of action.
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“Unfortunately for the victims in this case, they are left with their back garden looking an eyesore and they will have a significant outlay to make the garden look as it should have.
“Cases like these are stressful for those involved and we would urge anyone who has concerns regarding work performed at their property to contact Trading Standards on (01429) 523362.”