A Havering man who sold cars illegally from a layby, despite repeated warnings from Havering Council, has been fined.

Roy Lellow, 53, of Belgrave Avenue, Gidea Park, received at least 27 warnings from the authority between July 2008 and March 2010 for leaving vehicles advertised for sale off the A127 Southend Arterial Road, the council said.

Council offices left warning stickers on the vehicles on many of these occasions, Havering Magistrates Court was told on Thursday 4 August.

Despite this, in March this year a council enforcement officer saw vehicles parked at the A127 between Belgrave Avenue and Main Road, Romford.

The vehicles included two Ford Focus cars and a Ford 1.6 Zetec, advertised at �1,895, �2,195 and �1,695.

All three had the same mobile phone number which belonged to Mr Lellow.

On May 17 two more Ford Focus cars were spotted parked in the layby and advertised for sale.

Council officers seized the vehicles using powers under the London Local Authorities Act 1990.

Later that afternoon the council was contacted by Mr Lellow. He was invited to an interview on 20 May when he confirmed he was the current owner of the two seized vehicles.

He admitted placing ‘for sale’ signs in the windows and other signs advertising the prices.

He confirmed he did not have a licence to trade in the borough of Havering for any purpose. In addition, the area where the vehicles were found was not an area licensed for street trading.

He pleaded guilty at Havering Magistrates’ Court to four offences of unlawful trading and was fined �1,500 and ordered to pay �2,093 costs to the Council.

Cllr Barry Tebbutt, Cabinet member for Environment, said: “Mr Lellow ignored at least 27 warnings to stop trading in this unlawful way which puts legitimate traders and licence holders at a disadvantage. Not only that, but it puts consumers at risk through a lack of registration. When buying a vehicle that is merely displaying a phone number the purchaser could lose their rights and may not be able to trace the seller. Selling cars in this way also makes our streets unsightly.”