Council feared backlash if Jodie Marsh kept lemurs

Allowing Jodie Marsh to keep lemurs would have attracted an influx of complaints from neighbours, a senior council officer said.

The former glamour model and reality TV personality has been fighting Uttlesford District Council in court after it refused her application for a wild animal licence in July 2024.

But Colchester Magistrates' Court was told there were a range of health, civil and planning issues at her Fripps Farm premises near Braintree in Essex.

District Judge Christopher Williams adjourned the hearing and said he would rule on the dispute on 3 June.

Ms Marsh founded her animal sanctuary in 2020, housing alpacas, emus and reptiles in the village of Lindsell.

The 46-year-old, who appeared in the ITV series Essex Wives in 2002, took her local council to court after it refused her bid to adopt eight ring-tailed lemurs.

Andrew Bonham, the authority's senior environmental health officer, gave evidence on the second day of the licence appeal hearing on Wednesday.

He said several health concerns were found at the site and "a lot of allegations and counter-allegations" were being made by Ms Marsh and her neighbours.

Allowing her to keep lemurs "would likely cause intrusions and we would likely get complaints, and then we would have to go through the statutory nuisance procedure", Mr Bonham said.

He accused Ms Marsh of not allowing the council to take noise readings at Fripps Farm and insisted "everything she asked was answered".

Mr Bonham said "the character of Ms Marsh" was taken into consideration by councillors rejecting her application.

"A heck of a lot was going on at that time," he added.

She previously told BBC Essex her farm was part-funded by selling content on OnlyFans.

Delivering further legal arguments on Ms Marsh's behalf, lawyer Paul Oakley said lemurs were "unlikely to contribute to a noise nuisance" in the area.

He argued Ms Marsh was being targeted by "trolls" trying to "present her in the worst possible light".

On the first day of the hearing in April, she defended her decision to take her meerkat named Mabel to the pub.

Mr Oakley said any verdict made by the court would affect the wellbeing of other animals Ms Marsh cared for, including 17 marmosets.

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