TWO businessmen in court for breaching planning conditions have told how their car sales firm went bust owing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Marc Bassett, 50, and 34-year-old David Brittan, had been partners in a car sales business, Bassetts of Tavistock, Plymouth Crown Court was told.

Both men appeared at court yesterday for sentence after previously admitting charges of failing to comply with a planning enforcement notice and failing to comply with a stop notice.

The charges were brought by West Devon Borough Council after Basset and Brittan used agricultural land at Higher Wilminstone Farm to valet and service cars for their business.

Gavin Collett, for the prosecution, said that after being denied permission for change of use of the land, Bassett and Brittan had continued to store, valet and service cars there, and had ignored an enforcement notice and notice to stop, served in December 2005, until 2008, deriving financial benefit.

The charges are only punishable by a fine, although the amount is unlimited.

The court heard the men were both now undischarged bankrupts, with assets variously split up, transferred or repossessed.

Brittan, of Plymouth Road, Tavistock, said his parents had remortgaged their home to put £200,000 into the business for the purchase of the farm, and several of the farm buildings were also mortgaged.

He said the business had at one stage been paying £5,000 a month to cover the various mortgages.

He said: "It was a rollercoaster ride. We always thought that within six months we would get planning permission and be able to sell it or something.

"Car sales slowed, and we ended up borrowing to pay off borrowing, which obviously doesn't work."

He said the business had acquired a site next to their main car sales venue in Tavistock, but that now had negative equity of £160,000, and the sales site had been repossessed.

Brittan said: "The last six months has taken its toll on Mr Bassett and myself. We went from having a good relationship to hating each other. It's been worse than a marriage; we had several mortgages."

The court heard the two partners had set up separate businesses to split their assets, but had both gone bankrupt.

Judge Paul Darlow refused to accept the men had no means to pay a fine without seeing further evidence, as some assets appeared to have been passed on to Brittan's 70-year-old father and Bassett's 82-year-old mother.

He also questioned how Bassett had been able to afford a holiday in Mexico.

The court heard this had been paid for by Bassett's "independently wealthy" partner, who also now owned his former house in Tavistock.

Judge Darlow adjourned the case until October 12, and ordered the defendants to provide proof of what had become of all assets over £500 that they had owned since 2005.