...the debris just built up (From Bournemouth Echo)

...the debris just built up

7:00am Tuesday 6th January 2009

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A DUMP. An eyesore. Total chaos.

Descriptions of Jim Finney’s infamous Broadstone property have not been in short supply from his long-suffering neighbours over the years.

The ‘neighbour from hell’ is facing time behind bars for assaulting a council official and a police officer.

But Finney’s neighbours will feel they have had their own indefinite sentence imposed on them by the 71-year-old’s hoarding habit.

Finney started to build an extension to his Clarendon Road home in 1974 but never finished it.

He tried to justify the sheet metal, telegraph poles and rusting vehicles in his gardens as a “work in progress” but disgruntled neighbours demanded council action and a clearance was made in 2000.

If they thought their nightmare had ended, they were sadly mistaken.

The debris began to build up once more and as complaints again began to pour in, an untidy enforcement notice was issued in July 2006.

Finney appealed the notice, creating a frustrating delay for neighbours, but it was eventually dismissed and the pensioner was ordered to clear up his house in May 2007.

The extraordinary scale of the council clear-up operation, which took a week, eventually cost more than £35,000, and involved forklift trucks and heavy-duty vehicles.

Among the 30 years worth of debris cleared were cement mixers, an old bath and 11 cars.

The saga took a new twist in September when Finney ended up in intensive care as police officers attempted to restrain him at his home using incapacitant spray. It is understood the officers were executing a warrant after Finney had failed to pay fines related to public order offences.

The incident meant Finney originally missed his court date for the attacks on the council official and police officer, but his past eventually caught up with him at Bournemouth magistrates yesterday.

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