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A farmer who previously upset his ‘nasty’ neighbours with a sign has found himself at loggerheads with residents again over an illegal dump and lorry park on his land.
Carl Powell caused a stir in Peopleton when he erected a billboard describing the Worcestershire village as a ‘murderous, lawless and godforsaken place’.
In 2021, he was slapped with a £90 fine after police claimed he had caused ‘harassment, alarm or distress’ with the sign but he was eventually cleared of a public order offence.
He has since changed the tongue-in-cheek notice – which sits 15ft high on an old grain dryer – which now welcomes visitors to the ‘nicest village in Worcestershire’ with a ‘caring, god fearing’ community.
Now, Mr Powell is being investigated over claims part of his 90-acre Stone Arrow Farm is being used as an illegal dump.
The sprawling site is just yards from the black and white timber and thatched cottages in the village.
The farm is now the focus of an investigation over dumping of waste and a sprawling lorry park full of more than 50 HGVs.
One half of the site is being used as a lorry park while the other is used for crushing and storing dumped bricks and rubble.
Mr Powell insists the dump and lorry park is run by a tenant who rents land on the site.
The 80-year-old said: ‘The chap who rents the land from me is using the land to recycle wood and stone and vehicles.
‘He hasn’t broken the law but he’s bent it a bit. But we’re sorting it out with the Environment Agency.’
Mr Powell admits the site has not made him popular with the 600 villagers living nearby.
He said: ‘I was stopped the other day by a resident who said to me ‘You’re a disgrace and the most hated man in Peopleton. You deserve everything that is coming to you.’
‘It doesn’t really bother me. I’m used to it.’
Mr Powell added that he doesn’t agree with what the tenant had done at the yard.
He continued: ‘I’m against the scale of it. It’s all got to go.
‘I’m doing everything I can to resolve the situation, to make it lawful and to regularise it but it’s difficult dealing with tenants.’
Asked how much money he received from the tenant, Mr Powell, whose family have owned the farm since 1963, replied: ‘Not enough for the trouble he’s caused me.’
People living in the village, where house prices average more than £500,000, have reacted with fury at the dump, with some branding it an ‘eyesore’.
One local, who did not want to be named, said: ‘There’s noise every day and in the summer dust from the brick crusher covers the house and cars.
‘You can’t hang your washing out and no point opening windows.
‘We live in a very beautiful area but sadly have this eyesore down the road. It seems to be taking an age to get it shut down. We just hope the end is in sight.’
Another resident said: ‘Mr Powell got his 15 minutes of fame when he called us all nasty, lawless and godforsaken but frankly I think he was describing someone closer to home.
‘The sooner the authorities step in the better. Some residents, particularly those living a few hundred yards from the lorry site, are at their wits end.
‘Lorries have been going in and out of the site at all hours of the day and night. It’s making life pretty miserable for people.’
A stop notice was served by the Environment Agency in January 2025 and initially complied with.
Activities have since recommenced and the EA is considering the next enforcement steps.
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: ‘Illegal waste crime scars our communities and the site at Peopleton is something we’re committed to tackling together.’
A spokesperson for Peopleton Parish Council said: ‘Together we’re pulling every lever available to us to disrupt those who profit from the harm illegal waste sites cause.’
Conservative MP Nigel Huddleston, who represents Droitwich and Evesham, said: ‘I am very concerned by the ongoing activities at Stone Arrow Farm.
‘Having met local residents on several occasions about this matter, I know how damaging these activities are for the local community.’
