Truck driver’s enormous ‘eyesore’ articulated haulage containers are STILL blocking neighbours’ view from their gardens SIX WEEKS after he first left them there

• 15ft tall haulage containers blocking residents’ views in Norfolk village of Guist
• Advertising Laila basmati rice, the two containers are parked in a nearby garden
• Villagers have complained their beautiful view of the countryside is now spoiled 

Furious neighbours have blasted one resident who has left two huge ‘eyesore’ haulage containers blocking their peaceful garden views for more than six weeks. 

Lorry driver Carl Lake, 45, wheeled the two ‘Laila Rice’ trailers onto a piece of land he owns in the sleepy Norfolk village of Guist earlier this summer – much to the fury of local villagers who say their beautiful countryside views have now been ruined.

The giant containers stand at around 15ft tall and are more than 30ft long – meaning Mr Lake’s neighbours have been forced to swap idyllic rural views for the ‘monstrous’ wagons which loom over their garden fences.

Villagers claim that a picture of a green-tinged woman’s face on the closest trailer has an ‘eerie luminous quality’ which appears to make it light up at night.

But Breckland Council is still investigating whether the arrival of the trailers breaches any planning rules on Mr Lake’s land at Guist around 20 miles from Norwich.

Mr Lake has told neighbours that he wants to create a workshop by putting a roof across the gap between the two trailers.

Local residents say he has vowed not to move them unless he is forced to do so, despite previously admitting that the trailers were an ‘eyesore’ for villagers.

Local residents in the sleepy Norfolk village of Guist have been left to vent their rage after two giant Laila Rice lorry containers were left to tower over their garden fences

Lorry driver Carl Lake, 45, wheeled the two ‘Laila Rice’ trailers onto a piece of land he owns in the sleepy Norfolk village of Guist earlier this summer – much to the fury of local villagers such as Sandra Ashmore, 74, (above) who said her beautiful countryside views were ruined

The giant containers stand at around 15ft tall and are more than 30ft long – meaning Mr Lake’s neighbours have been forced to swap idyllic rural views for the ‘monstrous’ wagons

Truck driver Mr Lake, 45, moved the containers into the back garden of his house in Guist, 20 miles from Norwich using a tractor, and is said to have told neighbours he plans to link them with a roof and set up a hobby workshop. 

MailOnline previously approached Mr Lake who said he preferred not to comment and had put the matter in the hands of his solicitor.

He added: ‘I’m not looking to bend any rules – it is my house and my property.’ He said his plan was to build a hobby workshop though not for a vintage tractor, but declined to elaborate.

Although Guist was mentioned in the Domesday Book, much of the village was rebuilt in 1929 by local landowner and MP Thomas Cook, (grandson of the holiday company pioneer) whose family estate at Sennowe Park is nearby.

The new ‘model village’ included a village green, clock, post office, village hall and fire station.

Furious neighbours have blasted one resident who has left two huge ‘eyesore’ haulage containers blocking their peaceful garden views in the sleepy Norfolk village of Guist for more than six weeks

The ‘monstrous’ wagons that tower over the villagers’ garden fences have been nicknamed the ‘Laila Trailers’ after the brand of basmati rice on their sides

But local residents have hit out at Mr Lake’s decision to block off much of their rural vistas.

Claire O’Brien, 54, claims her enjoyment of her garden has been wrecked by the looming sight of one of the trailers clearly visible over the top of her wall.

She and her husband have joked that they have been ‘put off eating rice’ because of the trailer’s hoarding advertising seven different varies of Laila rice.

Residents in the historic Norfolk village of Guist were horrified by the sudden arrival of two huge articulated haulage containers – blotting out their idyllic rural view

Claire O’Brien, 54, said the sight of the trailers made her cry and joked that she may never eat rice again

Mrs O’Brien said: ‘I could not believe what I was seeing. The two trailers are a monstrosity and they have completely ruined my garden.

‘I went round and asked Mr Lake, “Please tell me, you are not leaving those things there?”

‘I know you don’t own the view from your home, and I realise it is his land, and he can do what he wants, but there seems to be no consideration on the impact it has on other people.

‘I emailed Breckland Council about it straight away, and they came back to me to say they had contacted Mr Lake, and they are awaiting a response.

‘I know the council has its procedures to go through, but nothing seems to have happened since they arrived six-weeks-ago.

‘The parish council has told us that Mr Lake is not going to do anything now until the district council gets back to him.

‘He says that he is happy to screen the trailers by planting leylandii trees, but we don’t want him to do that either.

‘He has also offered to remove the wheels from the trailers which would reduce their height by a few feet – but we would still be able to see them.

‘If he wants a workshop on his land, he should apply for planning permission and do it properly rather than trying to mess around with a couple of trailers.

‘We are converting our house to provide room for my father who has severe dementia, and this trailer will be the view he gets from his room.

‘My sister did contact Laila rice to ask them about the trailers, and was told that they had been sold and there was nothing the company could do about it.’

Mrs O’Brien’s husband Mike, 54, who is a water treatment consultant, added: ‘The lady on the trailer is very pretty – but her face almost glows in the dark.

‘It is very off putting to have her staring at you the whole time when you are in your garden.’

Another neighbour Sandra Ashmore, 74, a retired beauty salon owner, said: ‘It used to be lovely to sit out in our garden in the evening – but now that has been ruined.

‘We had no warning at all that these two trailers were going to arrive. Mr Lake must have got them from somewhere.

‘We like to eat in our conservatory in the summer, and now we have to put up with the view of these two trailers.

‘They are the first thing I see from our main bedroom when I get up in the morning.’

Mrs Ashmore said her partner, retired publican Freddie Cosson, 84, who is battling cancer, used to enjoy sitting in their garden, but now no longer wants to do so.

She added: ‘It is such a shame because we have lovely weather at the moment, but we can’t enjoy our own garden. Who wants to sit out here and look at those things?

‘I’m sure they cannot legally be dumped beside our fence – but that is exactly what Mr Lake has done. My neighbour Claire came round in tears when they were dumped here.

‘Mr Lake rents a field at the back of his garden from a local landowner, so he was able to use that as access to bring on the trailers.

‘He just reversed each of them into position with his tractor. I could not believe it. He told me that he wanted to make a workshop by putting a roof across them

‘I contacted the council planning department straight away, but I never got an answer. Nobody has been around or bothered to look at it.

‘I know Mr Lake is a lorry driver. He seems a pleasant man, and I have got nothing against him, but he needs to sort this out.

‘I invited him round to have a look from our garden, and he came round. I told him that he wouldn’t want to live with that view, and he admitted they were an eyesore.

‘He told me he could lower the wheels or paint the sides, but I said he was missing the point. You can’t just plonk these two trailers next to your neighbours’ gardens.’

Mr Lake, 45, said: ‘All I am going to say is that I am waiting for the council to come back and clarify what I can do.’

Earlier he revealed that he wanted to build ‘a hobby workshop’ out of the trailers, but he declined to elaborate.

A Breckland Council spokesperson said: ‘Our Planning Enforcement Team have been contacted about this issue.

‘If a breach of planning control is established, we will determine the most expedient way of addressing it. However, we are still assessing the situation and so it is too early to say whether any planning rules have been broken.’

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