Villagers' fury as parking cowboys dig up a field to make an illegal Stansted Airport park and ride - and officials seem powerless to stop them

By STEPHANIE CONDRON and RORY TINGLE, HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT Published: 00:01, 3 July 2026 | Updated: 00:01, 3 July 2026 Residents are in uproar after cowboy parking operators dug up a field on the edge of their village to make an illegal park and ride.  To the hundreds of holidaymakers booking a spot at New Farm Parking before jetting off from Stansted Airport, the site appears perfectly safe and legal.  The signage is professional, spaces are sold online and the car park even appears on price comparison websites. But the owners of New Farm - which charges drivers around £75 a week - were served with an enforcement notice last September and told to stop trading. Instead they have appealed and are expanding. Police, trading standards and the county council have all failed to stop them. Huge piles of earth have been piled up around the site on the edge of the village of Elsenham, five miles from the airport. One couple who left their car at the car park this week as they headed off on holiday suspected something was amiss after the operators told them they must pay an additional £20 for a lift to the airport. They looked worried as they asked the Daily Mail, 'Is our car going to be alright?' before heading for the airport in one of the site's minibuses. A fuel pipe runs beneath the ground there and one local politician fears a devastating explosion if diggers continue carving out more car park spaces. The owners of New Farm Parking outside the village of Elsenham in Essex were served with an enforcement notice last September and told to stop trading Huge piles of earth have been piled up around the site on the edge of the village of Elsenham, five miles from the airport Members of the public have been using the site without realising it is unauthorised  New Farm is run by SC Parking Ltd, which is owned by a developer from Barking called Aurangzaib Cheema.  He has argued he should be allowed to carry on with his business as the site is already full of cars with bookings in place. Ray Gooding, who sits on Uttlesford District Council - the planning authority in charge of enforcement - said of the car park: 'It's the bane of our life. It's a very difficult situation. 'They are carrying out works on a piece of land with an airport fuel supply line and in addition to that they're selling parking space and the evidence is they are using unregistered drivers to drive minibuses to take people to the airport. 'They're asking for cash from people who have paid upfront for parking to take them to the airport. At the moment they're slipping between the various enforcement agencies. 'Uttlesford District Council are waiting for the secretary of state to decide on the enforcement notice. 'This is having a major impact on the people of Elsenham where drivers are taking people back and forth to the airport at all times and speeding through the village. I am trying to get all the agencies together and find a plan of action.' Mr Gooding criticised the behaviour of the individuals operating the car park.  'The worst part of it is there's some fairly threatening behaviour meted out towards the neighbours because they're gradually encroaching on other people's land,' he said.  'They're continually running their diggers. There's a fuel oil pipeline that runs below the surface there and they're excavating in the vicinity of that. 'If that were breached we'd probably lose a couple of villages and the airport as well. It would be a major event.' Leighton Bishop, 18, has started a Facebook group of residents opposed to the site. Large earth banks have been built around the site - angering locals  Professional signage gives drivers the impression they are arriving at a legitimate site  Your browser does not support iframes. He said of the car park: 'It's been expanding and expanding. Frankly, their behaviour has been outrageous. 'Their reason for appealing is there are cars on the site and they don't want to lose money. The fact is, they have set up an illegal business. 'They'll be doing 50 miles per hour through our village. 'If you're driving too slow their drivers will stick two fingers up. They're just smiling and waving now. They're driving through the village 24-7. 'It's a big frustration the way the authorities are handling it. They're risking lives every day. 'My parents were driving through the village and one of them was doing 50mph in the 30mph [zone]. 'I really began to notice what was happening last October or November. It started off as a car park and just got bigger and bigger. 'They ask people to pay [for parking] through a bank transfer. They operate under three different names. 'You give them the money. They take your keys to look after and you go on holiday and get on a minibus and go to the airport. A lot of people go there and [find] their cars have been driven around while they're on holiday.' Car park users have complained online about returning from holiday to find small change and snacks missing from their cars or their mileage being too high and their vehicles dirty. Another resident, who did not want to be identified, said: 'It started off with a few cars being parked there and then it started growing and growing and then questions started to be raised about the legalities of this place. 'Within the last year, it started to get significantly bigger. It's going through the legal process and they're still expanding through to the back.' She said: 'It is brazen. It looks like the council feels they cannot do much more because it's gone to appeal. It feels like the council doesn't want to rock the boat.'  Drivers have complained of shoddy service, including claims their vehicles have been moved around in their absence  The nearby village of Elsenham, which has mobilised in opposition to the disruptive eyesore  The site sits on the main road as you drive into Elsenham. A sign either side of the black metal gates reads 'Welcome to New Farm'.  Professional signage show it is accessible for wheelchair users and protected by cameras and a big 'P' gives the impression that it's a proper car park. A large temporary building at the entrance has a big 'reception' sign and an email for customers to use if they have a complaint. A man behind the reception screen had a row of car keys in front of him with orange tags on. Customers arrive and report to reception to hand in their keys and stand with their suitcases to wait for the minibus that pulls up by reception to take them to the airport. Customers returning go to reception to collect their keys. The Mail watched one woman leave who seemed perfectly happy with the experience. But neighbour Jowita Gosturani, 40, said: 'They've expanded all the way to the path on the track at the back. Obviously they are doing well with their business. 'People coming to the New Farm car park ask locals for directions. Their minibuses are going up and down all the time. They have been left to do whatever they want.' Uttlesford District Council has been contacted for comment.   No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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