'UK's best man cave' owner must stop parking 13 cars outside neighbours' homes

06 December 2023 , 15:02

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Millionaire Graham Wildin's cars parked near his property where he built the 'UK's biggest man cave' (Image: SWNS)

A millionaire who built an illegal 'man cave' has been told to stop annoying his neighbours by parking his 13 cars outside their homes.

Graham Wildin, 71, from Cirencester, Gloucestershire, built a massive leisure complex with a bowling alley, casino and cinema at the back of his house without planning permission.

Mr Wildin, who has already spent six weeks in jail for his defiance and lost several court battles, was given a final injunction by a District Judge. He is now only allowed to park two cars on the road, plus space for two visitors who can only stay for a maximum of eight hours.

The judge also ruled that Mr Wildin cannot keep CCTV cameras on the outside of any vehicle or on any extendable pole. The order follows numerous complaints from neighbours on Meendhurst Road, in Cinderford, which led to a special panel being set up by Solace - a partnership between Gloucestershire police and the county's district and city councils to tackle anti-social behaviour.

Graham Wildin inside the leisure centre he has built for himself and his family in his back garden (SWNS.com)

Mr Wildin quickly appealed against the injunction, leading to a two-day trial in front of District Judge Jonathan Napier at Gloucester County Court last week. The court heard that due to the number of vehicles parked in the road, a Forest of Dean District Council bin lorry was unable to collect rubbish.

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Mr Wildin disputed this and other issues through his legal representative Sasha Wass KC. She argued that Mr Wildin's neighbours were to blame and claimed that, apart from one occasion, he had not blocked his neighbours' driveways with any of his vehicles.

Last year, Wildin was jailed for failing to comply with a court order to decommission the building. He lost another legal battle in March this year when three High Court judges agreed it was right to jail him for defying court orders.

He was initially given 18 weeks from his release to make the giant leisure complex unusable by 'soft stripping' the inside. At the Court of Appeal, Wildin claimed he sold the complex to a man for just £1 and produced land registry documents to prove he was no longer the legal owner.

Graham Wildin's cars parked near his property (SWNS)

He also claimed it had been mothballed and could not be accessed legally with most of the contents moved to other family members. Wildin told the hearing the issue was "no longer my problem" because he had sold the complex to a mystery 'Mexican man' for £1 and it was impossible to remove radiators and its bowling alley.

Neighbours, who wished to remain anonymous due to fear of backlash, claimed that Wildin started parking his collection of vehicles on the street after he was told to demolish his 'man cave', which was built without planning permission in 2014. They also accused him of causing parking chaos on their street with his classic cars out of spite for the council.

An elderly lady living on the same road complained that she couldn't use her driveway anymore because two of Wildin's cars were parked on either side of her entrance. She said: "I can get in but I can't get out. If he moved them it would be okay."

Aerial view of the vast 'man cave' built by Graham Wildin in his back garden (Francis Hawkins / SWNS.com)

During a two-day trial at Gloucester County Court, it was revealed that Mr Wildin had put parking fine notices on several neighbours' cars blocking his driveway. The prosecution, led by Victoria Fennell, alleged that Mr Wildin moved his classic car collection onto the street to create parking chaos and pressure the authorities to change their decision about his man cave.

One neighbour shared their frustration with Wildin, saying: "Cars appear in our spaces when we're out at work. Wildin has cameras looking out onto the street to spot when we move our cars out of our spaces.

"It's very intimidating. No one likes living here when you come back after work and feel deflated pulling into the street. I don't understand why he feels he needs to make his neighbours suffer."

The leisure centre has a cinema, bowling alley, private casino, and even squash courts (SWNS.com)

Another resident complained: "He sits there watching the cameras and plays cat and mouse with his collection of classic cars. He is a bloody nightmare and he is making people's lives hell. The illegal sports centre doesn't worry me but he's blaming us neighbours for the council's actions so he's decided to cause parking mayhem."

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A fourth local added: "The parking here is terrible and he is causing a lot of aggro. He's doing it on purpose too. Nothing has changed in the two years I have lived here and something should be done about it. The complex shouldn't have been built. The law is law. Why should he get away with it?"

In the most recent hearing, Judge Napier did remove one interim condition over causing a nuisance and annoyance to others, as well as the power of arrest if he failed to comply with the injunction.

Mr Wildin spent years battling with authorities over the private leisure complex (David Hedges SWNS.comSWNS.com)

After the hearing, Di Blandford, anti-social behaviour case review co-ordinator for Solace, said: "The residents of Meendhurst Road had become frustrated in that when they came home there was nowhere to park near their homes, because Mr Wildin had taken up all the available spaces with his collection of cars.

"This is the first prosecution under anti-social behaviour legislation, involving car parking disputes," she added. "I am pleased that a large contingent of those affected by Mr Wildin's antics were able to see the process in action and the injunction being supported by the justice system. It felt like a David versus Goliath victory for the neighbours, thanks to the efforts of our prosecutor," she concluded.

Mr Wildin was ordered to pay his own legal costs, believed to be around £80,000, plus an additional £5,000 towards Solace's costs.

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]

Matt Atherton