A landowner was fined £268,000 for illegally felling trees to extend a petrol station. Motor Fuel Ltd cleared a patch of mixed broadleaf woodland next to a country road in Loughborough in 2019 to make room for a new development. The Forestry Commission found the trees were chopped down without a licence and served Motor Fuel Ltd with a Restocking Notice ordering it to replant the trees.
Motor Fuel Ltd admitted in court that it ignored the Restocking Notice and a further Enforcement Notice issued in April 2022. The matter was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service in June 2025, and the company pleaded guilty in October last year. Motor Fuel Ltd was sentenced at Leicester Magistrates' Court and handed a £268,751 penalty, the largest imposed on a case of its kind in English history, composed of a £266,666 fine, prosecution costs of £85, and a victim services surcharge of £2,000.
The company must pay the levy within 28 days. Motor Fuel Ltd must also replant and maintain 176 equally-spaced broadleaf trees at the site for the next 10 years after being given a fresh Restocking Order. The business could face contempt of court proceedings if it errs from these responsibilities, possibly resulting in more fines or even a custodial sentence.
It remains unclear what specific reasons Motor Fuel Ltd had for ignoring the notices, how many trees were originally felled in 2019, and what the current status of the petrol station extension development is.