Green Belt campaigners are celebrating a "fantastic outcome" after a company which sold plots of land in Borehamwood to foreign investors went into administration.

London-based UK Land Investments International (UKLI) had been selling parts of a field, located east of Theobald Street and north of Borehamwood, since 2004 through adverts in an English-language newspaper published in the Middle East.The company went into administration last month after the Financial Services Authority (FSA) ruled it was "unable to pay its debts".UKLI's plans were only uncovered after a member of Elstree and Borehamwood Green Belt Society saw an advert in the Arab News while on a trip to Saudi Arabia. The plots ranged in price from £12,500 to £17,500.In 2005, Hertsmere Borough Council attempted to block the company's plan to sell the Green Belt land and, in May 2006, the Elstree and Borehamwood Green Belt Society started a campaign against the sales.The site was previously owned by the United Synagogue, which wanted to use it for a cemetery but was unable to gain planning permission.Bob Atkinson, chairman of the society, said: "We are delighted the company is now not able to sell any more Green Belt land. "You can buy Green Belt land but you cannot build on it. The advertisement suggested that you could build on the land. The people who bought the plots have lost out."It is important to preserve any Green Belt land, so this is a fantastic outcome."Although UKLI emphasised to buyers the land was being sold without planning permission, its sales brochure claimed: "Development of the site will be resisted initially by the local authority, Hertsmere Borough Council, due to its Green Belt allocation."Professional and proactive promotion will therefore be undertaken on behalf of all individual owners, setting out the case for a review of Green Belt boundaries and a change in policies relating to the development of the land."In May 2006, a spokesman for UKLI told the Borehamwood and Elstree Times that because of the increasing need for housing, the council would eventually have been willing to look beyond urban confines to provide space for housing.At that point it was believed the company had sold more than 100 plots, each of approximately 200sq m, to would-be investors. The sales were worth more than £1 million.A letter sent to investors by administrators Deloitte & Touche earlier this month said: "The company is unable to pay its debts. The FSA has serious concerns as to how the company promoted its business activities to the public."A central part of the company's business was to acquire sites of land which it claimed had development potential, divide these sites into smaller plots, then sell these plots on the basis that the purchasers would benefit from the anticipated planning permissions and the resultant effect on the value of the site as a whole."Administrator Lee Manning said: "We have written to around 4,500 investors nationally who bought land from UKLI to advise them of their rights to return the land to the company and to seek a refund from it, to the extent that funds are available. "We will be inviting all investors with UKLI to a creditors meeting in due course."He said the administration team is gathering information on how many plots were sold in Borehamwood, but added it would be a "lengthy and detailed" process.Council planning officer Chris Lewcock said administrators had not yet approached the authority about the company, but added: "There is no current and very little future likelihood of the land being released for residential purposes. "The land forms part of an important green buffer between Borehamwood and Radlett and is a habitat for wildlife."