ENFORCEMENT officers swooped at the dodgy hand carwash site after months of legal wrangling with the owner.

They pulled down canopies, confiscated cleaning equipment and cut off the electrictity and water to the Splendid car wash in Coopers Hill earlier this month.

Police officers from Epping supervised the two-hour operation, although the council say they were met with no resistance from staff on the site.

The closure comes two years after the district council first served a closure notice to the site owner.

They feared that the carwash, located on the inside of a sharp bend on a busy road, would lead to a serious accident.

Following an appeal by the owner, which was dismissed, the notice became effective on May 13 2008, meaning the site should have been closed by July 13, 2008.

However the carwash continued and Splendid Manager, Artur Hasani, was successfully prosecuted in January 2009.

He was fined £300 and ordered to pay £200 Council costs.