Farming Family Fined £20,000 for Damaging Protected Plants

A farming family has been fined thousands of pounds for damaging rare plants on land owned by the National Trust in Ceredigion. Lloyd Jenkins and his parents Margaret and David, operating as Jenkins Ty Hen Limited, pleaded guilty earlier this month to damaging a protected wildlife site.

The offences took place over eight years on land bordering the Wales Coast Path that was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 2004.

66 and a £2,000 victim surcharge. The family must also comply with a 10-year order to restore the site to its former condition. Natural Resources Wales, which prosecuted the case, said the family ignored repeated warnings and continued spreading fertiliser, slurry and herbicides in field margins without permission between 2017 and 2025.

The agency stated the activity caused a serious decline in the number and variety of rare plants.

Dickens, the family's barrister, said the defendants did not go out intentionally to harm the flora and fauna. He described the actions as wilful blindness rather than flagrant disregard. David Jenkins, a tenant farmer for the National Trust for more than 15 years, said he had to leave six or 12-metre margins at the edge of the field.

He added that he had sought counselling from a mental health charity to manage the stress of the prosecution. Natural Resources Wales said it had no record of the company requesting permission to leave the fields uncultivated and expressed regret over the impact on Jenkins.