This is the dramatic moment a star of reality TV show Storage Hunters was arrested for harassment – as he claimed a village where he has bought two plots of land to build houses had ‘gone to war’ against him.
Businessman Daniel Hill, who denies ‘all allegations against him’ said he was ‘pepper sprayed’ by police and ‘detained for 14 hours’ after being arrested by Cambridgeshire Police on Monday.
Mr Hill, who has been released without charge on bail, is now banned from visiting his newly acquired plots of land on the Badcock Road housing estate in the pretty village of Haslingfield, Cambridgeshire for the next six weeks while police investigations are carried out.
The TV star acquired the unused plots of land – a designated tree planting area and a piece incorporated into a garden – for £18,000 last month at an auction of assets of the original estate developer who had gone into liquidation.
Hill boasted he had ‘done the deal of the century’ and claims the local residents should have ‘stuck their hand in their pocket’ if they wanted the land. But residents say he has been ‘terrorising’ them with his heavy handed behaviour.
He claims the locals are trying to drive him away and has accused them of ‘harassing’ him and ‘causing criminal damage’ to his property.
Mr Hill, who appeared in all five UK series of Storage Hunters from 2014 to 2016 as a ‘main buyer,’ said today: ‘I absolutely deny all allegations made against me. The villagers might have won the battle but they’re not going to win the war.
‘They may have stopped me visiting my plots of land for six weeks but I’ve not done anything wrong and I’ll be back.
‘I feel as though the village has gone to war against me and now under my bail conditions I’m banned from visiting the whole village of Haslingfield. I just want to be able to get on and do my job.’
It comes after police were called last week when Hill cut down a hedge on one of his plots of land, which a couple has gardened for four decades
Caroline Buggust, 75, who has gardened the piece of land, which the hedge surrounds, for 40 years, said last week Hill had ‘traumatised’ them and they had become prisoners in their own home.
She said their solicitor had told them cutting the hedge was ‘criminal damage’ because it was legally theirs and that Hill had demanded £100,000 compensation to forfeit his right to develop the plot.
‘For the last few weeks we have been traumatised by this man. We can’t leave the house for fear he is going to come in. We haven’t dared to leave the house at the same time. One of us has gone out and the other one stayed in,’ she said.
‘He turned up, bolted our gate, so we had no access out of our house. He said he had got the land, we have no proof, no paperwork to prove it’s actually his land, which we’ve asked for.
‘We’ve got solicitors involved. We’ve gardened it for 40 years and it’s enclosed, so that gives us rights that he has to actually evict us and take us to court.
‘We have been told that legally he can’t destroy anything on the land as its ours, the trees, the hedge, anything we put on it.
The week before Hill was seen cutting down a tree on the second piece of land, which he has bought, which has always been a designated tree planting area, where the local children would play.
A group of residents had offered him £40,000 to buy the piece of land from him, but he refused.
He has since enclosed the piece of land with a barbed wire fence and put a notice up warning people not to trespass.
Mr Hill said last week: ‘I saw this cheap bit of land at auction. That’s how I make my money, I buy stuff cheap and try to make a profit on it.
‘Originally I thought it was one of those things where it would go crazy money, it’s a beautiful village here. I was watching the auction and it landed around the £5,000 to £6,000 mark and I thought, I’ve got to have some of this.
‘I started bidding and got it for £12,000, obviously there are fees on top, happy days, I actually thought I’d done the deal of the century. I was really happy with it.
‘I come down here. I did all my research before. I thought there’s planning policy, support planning in the area, there’s no TPO’s, turned up here and started cutting the trees down, then wham all the villagers came out, almost like with their pitchforks and their angry faces, ‘no, no, no, you can’t have this land.’
‘I said, ‘sorry I’ve bought it’, I couldn’t really understand what the problem was and ever since then they have been sour pusses. They didn’t buy it. I’m not going to buy any tears, this is not a poor area.
‘You’ve got accountants, bankers, all kids of very wealthy people here. If they wanted the land they should have bought it.’
He said everyone knew the auction was going on and added: ‘If they wanted it, they should have bid for it really.’
He said: ‘I should be getting a pat on the back, I’ve done the deal of the century. I don’t see what everyone is moaning about.’
‘I’m going to put a house here. There will be an application very very soon. There’s planning policies which promote development in this area.
‘If the residents do make any objections they will have to be planning based. I’m quite excited, I feel like I’ve won the lottery. I couldn’t believe the land was so cheap. To all the people moaning they didn’t buy it, they should have stuck their hand in their pocket.’
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
