FAILING to clean up a back yard has cost a County Durham woman more than £1,000 in court.

Magistrates sitting at Peterlee on March 4 found the case against Terri Louise Ovington proved after she was charged with failing to comply with a community protection notice over the state of her back yard.

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The notice was issued under the Anti-social Behaviour Act and required Ovington to clean up the yard of a property on Windsor Terrace in Stanley.

But it was found on August 6, 2021, Ovington had failed to take action and had allowed the yard to be defaced by litter and/or refuse to the detriment of the locality.

Magistrates fined Ovington, of Windsor Terrace, New Kyo, £440 along with £605 in court costs and a £44 victim surcharge, bringing the total she has to pay up to £1,089.

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