Property tycoon, 48, who flattened 200-year-old Yorkshire pub fined £54,000

A greedy property tycoon who horrified Yorkshire villagers by flattening their 200-year-old pub has been handed a £54,000 fine after not obtaining planning permission.

Property developer Wayne Low, 48, demolished the historic Travellers Rest pub, in Long Riston, east Yorkshire, last year despite pleas for him to stop.

Low, of Molescroft, Beverley, admitted failing to obtain planning permission to demolish the pub on January 30, 2020.

He was fined £32,000 and was ordered to pay £21,968 costs. No separate penalty was imposed on his company AGML (UK). 

Recorder Tahir Khan QC said: ‘The harm that was caused to a heritage asset was exacerbated by the fact that your object was make money and, no doubt, the erection of something in its place that would generate profit.’ 

Locals were alerted to what was going when workmen turned up to switch off the power shortly after New Year 2020.

Killian Garvey, prosecuting for East Riding Council, said that the pub was demolished between November 2019 and February last year.

While demolition was ongoing on January 30 last year, Low was warned that he was committing an offence and that he should stop.

He flattened the historic Travellers Rest pub (pictured before), in the village of Long Riston, East Yorkshire, on January 30 last year despite pleas for him to stop

Low, of Molescroft, Beverley, admitted he didn’t have planning permission to flatten the pub (pictured during demolition) and was fined £32,000 and ordered to pay £21,968 costs

‘He refused that,’ said Mr Garvey. ‘He was told explicitly that he was committing an offence to demolish the pub.’

The work was done without East Riding Council being told and without planning permission.

In June this year, Low was later ordered to rebuild the ‘heritage asset’ – which was the only pub in the village of Long Riston, and was in the local conservation area – but failed to follow the agreed plans, Hull Crown Court heard. 

After a legal battle against the ruling, he later turned the sole surviving wing of the 18th century building into a micro pub.

But Hull Crown Court heard council planning officials were still unhappy and people were still complaining.

Recorder Tahir Khan QC said that the harm that was caused to a heritage asset was ‘exacerbated’ by the fact that the property developer’s object was to ‘make money’

Local councillor Brian Skow said: ‘I’ve never seen villagers this upset before. It was a wonderful pub.’ 

The pub, founded in the early 1800s had closed in 2018 and, although it was not listed, it was in the village conservation area.

In mitigation, Low claimed he had a ‘genuine passion for historic buildings’.

The court heard eight convictions at Scarborough magistrates court in July 2002 involving clearing an area for a holiday site, killing great crested newts and destroying habitats.