Farmer Tim Carson was amazed when Wiltshire Council brought in a top London barrister to represent them at a planning inquiry into a chemical store on his property.

The barrister, Robert Walton of Landmark Chambers in London, is described as one of the top ten junior (non-QC) barristers in the country. Wiltshire Council claims his fee came to £4,000.

He represented the council at the hearing at Stanton St Bernard village hall on June 30 before Alan Langton from the Planning Inspectorate. Mr Langton published his report last week, finding in favour of the council.

Though Mr Carson has had a chemical store in Blacksmith’s Yard, Alton Priors, since the early 1990s, it was only when he tried to replace the rusting red shipping container with a new grey one that problems arose. For a while both units were in the farmyard and during this period the former Kennet District Council received a complaint from a neighbour.

The council sent Mr Carson an enforcement notice to remove both the containers and a plastic water tank from the yard. Mr Carson applied for a certificate of lawfulness but this was turned down.

He said: “If the council had just come to me and said there was a problem, let’s see how we can work it out, all this could have been avoided.

“I am legally obliged to have a secure chemical store. Originally it was in a wooden shed but regulations now insist that it is a fireproof container and most farms use shipping containers.

“My solicitor and I were all prepared for the hearing but when we turned up and found the council had employed a London barrister we couldn’t believe it. My costs alone come to nearly £9,000. I can’t imagine what this is costing the council tax payer.”

A spokesman for Wiltshire Council said that the brief fee and site visit costs came to £4,000. The council applied for an order to be made for Mr Carson to pay their costs, but Mr Langton turned this down.

Wiltshire Council said it felt that because the appeal came so soon after it was created by a merger with the four district councils and the one county council it was appropriate to instruct a barrister in this case to maintain continuity from Kennet.

The spokesman added that it was not council policy to use London-based barristers for all public inquiries.