Terry Ball's snail farms

Summary

In 2018, Terence Ball began breeding snails in an attempt to avoid business rates (taxes). The Blackburn-born son of cobbler Tommy Ball, he had previously operated his own shoe firm, during which time he did business with the Camorra. In the late 2000s, he was banned from directing companies for nine years for tax evasion and a friend of his was stung by their local council after liquidating their firm and finding themselves liable for vacancy tax. These events, and a speech by the then-shadow planning minister Michael Gove warning of the impact of implementing said tax, inspired Ball to deprive HM Revenue and Customs of as much tax as he could.