The SHAME of David Leggo the LANDLORD of MITCHELL!!

Our regular customers over many years will remember about 12 years ago we used to have early morning Car Boot Sales at Truro which had been popular for over 20 years. Louise and I were asked if we would be interested in starting a new Car Boot Sale at MITCHELL. I discussed the idea with the Landlord of Mitchell David Leggo, he insisted that we did the Car Boot Sales on Saturdays at 1.30 pm which would clash with the early morning Truro success. I spoke with the Landlords at Truro and we agreed that if the business at Truro was affected then we would cease the trading at Mitchell and change the time and day all of which David Leggo totally agreed as a ‘Gentleman’s’ agreement.

I was warned by certain members of his circle and local farmers “Do not trust Leggo he is a dangerous man with a split personality and not a man of his word” known locally as ‘Looney Leggo’ I will not go into the details as to how he got the reputation Looney? “I bet one day that Leggo will take your business off you” I was warned by a Mitchell lady we shall call ‘Madam Why’
The popularity and personality of Looney Leggo in Mitchell would unfold to us when after some local dispute his car tyres were slashed and for further revenge his enemies set fire to our car boot portable toilets (owned by Andyloos) two weeks running causing £3000.00 of damage!

We started the Car Boot Sales and it became obvious that we were going to get interference from the Landlord as during the first months of running the Car Boots at Mitchell LEGGO would come to the Car Boots and start with various unacceptable ‘poking his nose’ efforts into the running of the sales by shouting at me and our team members as to how to park cars in fact one day he became so agitated that in full view of the public he grabbed and grappled me witnessed and laughed at the assembled buyers who thought I was having trouble with a drunk! I demanded he left the field immediately even though it was his own land. “Go home David you are acting like a bully and a lunatic and do not interfere with the way I conduct my business, I am the tenant you are the Landlord act like one! Go home” he was shaking with rage and totally out of control of himself!

Let me just explain how our Car Boots work, CAR BOOTS CORNWALL is solely owned by myself and Louise established since 1989. We decide on a location and with careful negotiations we agree terms with the Landlords to take over their land to conduct our business with the full and unfettered rights and without interference or interruption. We never ever see the Landlords at any of our locations. At the end of each sale we clean the field of any rubbish then pay the Landlord his rent at the end of the sale. Childs play! Just prepare the fields for us and leave the rest to us and respectfully trust us to do our job which we have done successfully for over twenty five years! Thank you!

Leggo saw our Car Boots as an opportunity to poke agitate and try to interfere into any which way he could. We were instantly successfully running Mitchell but as time went by his presence became so unacceptable he was jeopardising the smooth running of our sales. I arrived at the Mitchell one Saturday to notice that he had put a length of wire across an area in the field that looked like a guillotine accident waiting to happen “I don’t want anyone in this area” was his demand. I told him to remove the wire which was dangerously high at five feet off the ground! We argued-he argued until Phyllis arrived to set up her stall, she had not seen the wire and drove under it which scraped coats of paint from the roof of her car leaving permanent scratches! I made him remove the wire immediately. Go home and leave us alone to conduct OUR own business!

The Car Boot Sales started at Mitchell around 2005 it took several years to establish however after the first year I told David Leggo that as he had agreed if Truro was affected by the Mitchell success we should change the day and time so that Truro could return to its previously enjoyed business levels. His immediate attitude was to renege on the deal steadfastly refusing to honour the alleged ‘gentleman’s agreement’ between Truro Cattle Market, Mitchell and myself. His actions reminded me of the warnings I was given about ‘not being a man of his word’

He had an absolute obsession of going around the sellers introducing himself as “Hello, I am David Leggo, I own this land” So what! Who GAF anyway? Another one of his ridiculous almost weekly habits was to drive into the car boot sales as many as ‘20 times in an hour’ and drive around the car park parroting his “Hello, I am David Leggo, I own this land” to anyone who would listen like some absolute nutter as members of our team called him as he came through the gates and out of the gates time and time again?

They reckon that he deliberately drove around so many times using the Mitchell roundabout to add to the traffic hold ups he was allegedly worried about. Before the day was out he would be phoning complaining about the build-up of traffic reported to him by Madam Why. His complaints about cars at the round-about and on the Newquay slip road became a feature over many years so Lou and I were inclined to ignore something that had nothing to do with him. Officially as Landlord he had no rights to visit the sales on a weekly basis acting as though the business was his! Despite all of the antics of the Landlord Mitchell went from strength to strength but still he agitated our success with his constant bemoaning about the hold up of traffic due to the popularity of our the weekly sales.
In October last year he telephoned me at home one evening to say that he had had a report from ‘Madam Why’ that the traffic hold ups were dreadful at the weekend Car Boot Sale “and if it happens again then it will be your last week” I tried to reason with him by saying ‘Hold on David it is towards the end of the season we were down on buyers cars by about 200 so nope there was absolutely NO holdups’ “Never mind all that ‘Madam Why’ told me about the hold-ups and I have my wife with a broken leg at home and we do not need the money but I believe it when ‘Madam Why’ tells me there were traffic holdups and I believe her and that is it and if it happens again then you know what I have said” as he disconnected the call.

Lou and I were seriously pissed off being treated by a Landlord like this because he is jeopardising the huge Community spirit we had built up and I wanted to protect the income of hundreds and thousands of my customers our buyers and sellers!
Matters got worse when on the next Car Boot Sale we had got everything set up with the queue of sellers growing about 80 buyers had arrived to queue and await the 1.30 pm horn to start the sale. A good Car Boot atmosphere was building up when Looney Leggo came speeding up the field to about 20 yards from where I was standing, he jumped out of his car in a rage and started shouting and ranting and raving at me and Lou in front of the fruit & veg stall and its customers. “I am telling you this if there is any traffic hold ups today then this is your last week” then he repeated the same shouted message again and again in a 3 minute tirade. I told him “Go home David and leave the running of the Car Boot Sale to me please” Bystanders wanted to know ‘who TF was that? Was he drunk? He should be barred! What they did not know was he is the Landlord!