A MAN has been fined after failing to provide information about an abandoned caravan outside his home.

Stephen Pearson, 54, of South Crescent in Boldon Colliery, was prosecuted by South Tyneside Council for failing to comply with a notice requiring him to make himself available to answer questions regarding the abandonment of the vehicle.

The offence related to a run down, unlocked caravan that had been placed on the main road in South Crescent in June.

South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard how the caravan had been on a South Crescent driveway only the previous week when it was noted to have been overhanging the footpath.

Pearson ignored several notices asking him to attend interviews to discuss the matter, leaving council officers with no alternative but to serve him with a Section 108 Pursuant Notice to make himself available.

He breached the notice, an offence under Section 110 of the Environment Act.

Magistrates fined him £660 and ordered him to pay £100 costs.

A council spokesman said: “We take issues like this extremely seriously.”