David and Karen Yates were told to leave their home (Image: Nick Jackson)
A desperate struggle has erupted for a couple faced with eviction from their ancestral farmhouse.
David and Karen Yates found themselves on the brink of being forced out of 500 year old Earls Farm in Bolton, which sits in an area targeted for development, after town hall chiefs handed them an ultimatum to vacate by February 24.
However, Bolton Council has said it has “reached a confidential agreement”.
While no official planning bid has surfaced, the surrounding 12.5-acre land, cherished by David’s family for three centuries as farming land, is now eyed for housing projects.
The pair, who manage a cattery capable of caring for 84 cats along with a barley straw production outfit combatting green algae, as well as Karen’s beauty business, said they would be happy to leave the farmland for development if they could stay in their home to run their businesses.
They are currenly homing cats for older people in hospital.
:
The home has been in David’s family for 300 years (Image: Nick Jackson)
Karen, 56, and David, 67, said the legal battle with Bolton Council had affected their mental health.
“We’ve nowhere to go,” Karen said. “We just want to carry on running our businesses, all of which are viable.
“It’s having an awful effect on our mental health. This has been going on for so long.”
Coun Les Webb, representing the Bradshaw ward, described how he tried to arrange for himself and the Yateses to meet with council chief executive Sue Johnson but this was refused.
Don’t miss… [WARNING] [REVEAL]
“There’s been a long protracted negotiation over the future of Earls Farm,” he told the .
“However, I would like to believe I am a fair and reasonable individual about most things to do with council business.
“All I know is that if I was in the position of the chief executive, I would have one last go at seeing if there could be a resolution to this situation which allies them to stay in their house.
“I know the chief executive has a tremendously difficult job, but I also this has had a detrimental effect on their mental health.”
“I asked if she would consider coming back to the table with a view to keeping them in the farmhouse rather than making them homeless, but there is no appetite for this.”
A Bolton Council spokesperson said: “We have reached a confidential agreement with Mr and Mrs Yates via mediation, and we are unable to comment further on the terms of that agreement.”