EXCLUSIVE: Controversial landlord reveals all over ‘commercial waste’ arrest

Multi-millionaire landlord Fergus Wilson has been arrested after clashing with a council worker over furniture removal outside one of his properties.

Wilson’s workmen were loading dissembled furniture into a van in Perryfield Street when the environmental health officer from Maidstone Council arrived.

An altercation ensued, the police were called and he was arrested on ‘suspicion of assault’. However, after being taken to the police station, he was released without charge due to a lack of evidence.

He tells LandlordZONE: “The officer concerned called me racist for referring to him as a ‘petty little Hitler’. I told him he had blue eyes, blond hair and was English just the same as myself.

“He said I had assaulted him. I am 73 years old in a few days but if I had punched him he would have been out cold.”

Disgruntled neighbour

Wilson believes a disgruntled neighbour reported the workmen and that there may have been confusion over whether they were actually his employees and legitimately on a job.

He explains that the disagreement arose over the definition of commercial waste.

“The house is being sold after the tenants had moved out and has a stairway with a bend in it where you can’t get up conventional furniture.

“The council seems to think that if the landlord dissembles flat pack furniture to remove it, such as a dining room table – in order to reassemble at another house – it is to be regarded as commercial waste. However, if you do not disassemble it, such as a settee, then it is not commercial waste.”

Wilson adds: “Maidstone has the most acute housing situation in Kent but I’m not surprised if they carry on like this.”

A Maidstone council spokesperson tells LandlordZONE: “Maidstone Borough Council can confirm that a vehicle was seized in Perryfield Street which was carrying materials that required a waste carrier’s licence. We are unable to comment further on the incident as it is currently being investigated by Kent Police.”

Read more about Fergus Wilson.

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