A strawberry farm company accused of creating a "new village" without planning permission to accommodate up to 1,400 migrant fruit pickers has been threatened with penalties for contempt of court.

Herefordshire Council complained to the High Court in London that S&A Property, run by strawberry grower Stanley Davies, had breached an injunction by installing windows in an amenity building on the site at Brierly Court Farm, near Leominster.

The company, although banned from further development of the 200-acre former hop farm, had been allowed to "make safe" any existing structures on health and safety grounds.

But this concession was not a "Trojan horse" by which the company could carry on with its unlawful development, said the local authority's counsel, Timothy Jones.

In May last year, the council obtained a court order preventing further work on the farm complex.

The company's plans, in addition to polytunnels and mobile homes, were said to include sewerage, a doctor's surgery, cinema, disco, sauna, gymnasium, internet cafe, library and swimming pool.

S&A employs mainly Chinese, Russian and European students under the seasonal agricultural workers scheme in order to harvest thousands of tonnes of fruit.

It says it wants to provide modern facilities in line with Government welfare standards.

But the complex has been condemned by some local residents, including TV gardener Monty Don, as a "blight on the landscape".

There was no planning permission, although caravans were allowed for the purpose of housing agricultural workers on a temporary seasonal basis.

When the injunction was granted last year, no permission was given for the amenity building to be brought into use.

The judge reserved judgment to a later date.