A Somerset caravan park owner has been ordered to pay £116,263 after being convicted of disturbing a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which serves as an internationally important breeding ground for wading birds and waterfowl.

John Holland, 59, of Tapmoor Road, Moorlinch, appeared before Taunton Crown Court on Wednesday 26 November for sentencing after pleading guilty to two offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 at earlier hearings.

The prosecution was brought by Natural England following a four-year investigation into Holland’s activities, which evidenced he had turned the 1.2-hectare grassland site at Long Load within the Wet Moor SSSI into a permanent commercial caravan park. He crammed over 90 caravans and 40 vehicles into two fields and laid 300 metres of t

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