Man who took on farm in north Wales for £1 a year says decision is ‘end of a nightmare’

A case against a farmer whose dream job on a coastal farm turned into a nightmare as a result of the harsh elements, an unforgiving landscape and the attentions of trading standards officers has collapsed.

Dan Jones, 40, saw off competition from thousands of shepherds and farmers to take on Parc Farm, owned by the National Trust, on the Great Orme headland in north Wales. The farm is worth an estimated £1m but the tenancy was priced at just £1 a year to give him a chance to focus on conservation as well as animal husbandry.

During a four-day trial in Llandudno, it was alleged that Conwy county borough council’s trading standards officers discovered problems with some aspects of how the farm was being managed.

On Friday the prosecution halted the case, saying it no longer believed it was in the public interest.

As he left court, Jones said: “It’s the end of a nightmare. It was a dream come true turned into a nightmare.”

His solicitor, David Kirwan, said: “I am very, very disappointed with the attitude of the council. There has been no apology. They nearly ruined a very honest and well respected man.”

Giving evidence on Thursday, Jones told the district judge Gwyn Jones that he had been battling with the elements since taking over the farm and had fought to keep sheep away from cliff edges and out of people’s gardens. He said it had been a struggle to deal with the competing interests of organisations involved in the land.

Trading standards officers visited the farm after a complaint from a member of the public about dead sheep. It was claimed officers found three carcasses. There were no animal welfare concerns but Jones faced one charge of failing to dispose of carcasses, one of failing to keep a register of animal movements and nine of failing to notify the authorities of animals he had received between 2016, when he took over the tenancy, and 2018. He denied the charges.

Dropping the case, the prosecuting barrister John Wyn Williams claimed it had been right to test the evidence in court, but he said: “The council are keenly aware Mr Jones is a man of impeccable good character.” The district judge told Jones: “Your good name remains.”

Kirwan argued in court: “The person who’s suffered the most here is Daniel Jones. His unblemished life has been on hold and has been a hell and a nightmare – they are his own words. The nightmare is over but it will, unsurprisingly, probably affect him for the rest of his life. My client has suffered greatly. He hasn’t slept, he’s not a well man and it’s cost him a fortune to preserve his good name.”

When the tenancy was offered in 2016, the National Trust called it an “incredible life-changing opportunity” and said its offices were dealing with more than 100 inquiries an hour, including from as far away as Australia, Brazil and Japan.

Jones said at the time: “I couldn’t quite believe it when I got the call to say I was successful. I was in shock. My wife, Ceri, son Efan and I are just super excited. This opportunity will change our lives. Y Parc is a dream farm, it is such a beautiful location, the views are amazing and I’m really looking forward to farming in a different way to make a difference for nature. With the tenancy at just a pound, it allows us to be able to farm far less intensively, focus on improving the habitats.”

The Great Orme is home to wild cotoneaster shrubs and two subspecies of butterfly, the grayling and the silver-studded blue, that exist nowhere else.

No one from the council was available for comment on Friday.