A woman sued by the city council for parking vehicles in her own driveway has said she is prepared to go to jail over the dispute.
Jenny Cummings was ordered to move cars and a van her family uses to run a nearby vehicle recovery business after Newport County Council claimed they were operating the business from home.
The 44-year-old was first served with an enforcement notice in the summer of 2022, but family health issues meant she did not respond in time.
Now the mother-of-two is due to appear in court this month and has called the threat “absolutely ridiculous” and a waste of council taxpayers’ money.
Cummings told MailOnline he would rather go to prison than comply.
Jenny Cummings, who is being sued by the council for parking vehicles in her own driveway, has said she is willing to go to jail over the row (pictured: a van and three cars in the driveway).
The 44-year-old uses a van (pictured) to run a vehicle recovery business from a nearby unit, but Newport County Council has claimed the family operates the company from home.
The opposite side of Mrs. Cummings’ house with the vehicles in the background.
The mother-of-two was also ordered to remove an unused children’s swing (pictured) from her garden.
“When we first moved in three years ago we wanted to renovate and expand it,” he said. ‘We had planning, health and safety officers and everything was fine.
‘We had problems with our neighbors, who have reported us to the city council.
‘Now the council says they think we run a business from our home, which is simply not true.
‘They have no evidence of this and I hope the court dismisses the notice.
‘We have tried to explain to the council that we do not run any business from our home and that sometimes we simply park our vehicles here. Doesn’t a plumber take his car home if he gets an emergency job?
“I’m going to fight this to the end and if that means I end up in jail, so be it.”
The mother said her husband David, 46, and son Kian, 21, “occasionally” use the driveway outside the house they bought three years ago to park vehicles associated with the business they run nearby.
She said: ‘Sometimes they can get a call after midnight to pick up a vehicle and if they get home at three in the morning they come straight back here with the truck rather than leaving it at the drive because they need to get to bed.
Mrs Cummings said: “I’m going to fight this to the end and if that means I end up in jail then so be it.”
The mother said her husband David, 46, and son Kian, 21, “occasionally” use the driveway outside the house they bought three years ago to park vehicles associated with the business they run nearby.
She said: ‘Sometimes they can get a call after midnight to pick up a vehicle and if they get home at three in the morning they come straight back here with the truck instead of leaving it at the drive because they need to get to bed.’
“But that only happens once in a while, less than once a week.”
An execution notice was first served two years ago at Mrs Cummings’ country home in St Brides Wentlooge, near Newport, South Wales.
He said he didn’t respond because his father was in the hospital for colon cancer surgery and his grandson had been born with a significant brain injury after a complicated forceps delivery.
Ms Cummings added: “I admit there was so much going on in my personal life at the time that I became distracted and did not respond quickly enough to the council’s action.
‘With all that going on in my life, I simply didn’t have room to worry about a complaint about vehicles parked in my own driveway. I just assumed it would go away.
He said his family had also been asked to remove a set of small spotlights that illuminate an orchard, but that removing the lights would be “stupid” and could cause people to trip over fallen apples in the dark.
Ms Cummings was also ordered to remove a single CCTV camera, which she installed after her home was vandalised, and a small storage cabin.
The council also told them to move an unused children’s swing to another area of the property.
Ms Cummings was also ordered to remove a single CCTV camera she installed after her home was vandalised.
She said: “We think it’s stupid to take out the light bulbs.”
She said: ‘We don’t think we’re doing anything wrong. We are not running a business, the camera is there to protect us, that cabin is hidden in the corner and does not harm anyone.
“We think it’s stupid to remove the lights.”
He added that the large vehicles passing by his house were more disruptive than what his family did.
‘On this road, you have these trucks taking garbage to recycling since 6 in the morning and our house shakes because of it, but we are used to it.
‘The sound our vehicles make is exactly the same as a car would make.
‘We already have noise in this area and we are not contributing to it. It’s here.
‘I have spoken to other residents in our area and they have no problem with anything we are doing.
‘It’s ridiculous. We are not bothering the neighbors. We have hectic lives. We go to bed at 8 at night.’
Cummings said he had requested mediation on several occasions to prevent the council from being informed, but nothing had happened.
She added that the last few years had impacted her mentally and physically.
Ms Cummings said she had requested mediation on several occasions to prevent the council from being reported, but nothing had happened (pictured: the swing the council asked the mother-of-two to remove).
A small storage unit (pictured) is also on the list of items the 44-year-old was ordered to remove.
‘I have lost a lot of weight, I go back and forth to the doctor for stomach problems.
‘I asked if it could be stress and they told me it could be. My husband is the same.
‘We have sleepless nights because of this. It’s just constant. We have other things in our lives that are more important. We have family members who are sick.’
