A FARMING family claim they are facing eviction from the land they have worked for a century to make way for Scotland's first purpose-built film studio.

Jim Telfer's grandfather began working the 60-acre farm on the outskirts of Edinburgh in 1915.

The pensioner, 82, carried on the legacy and still grazes sheep and breeds cows on the land at Damhead to this day.

But now his family claim the descendants of the landowners who signed the original lease are pressuring them to abandon the farm so the site can be sold to developers.

A patch of the land is currently earmarked as part of the development for film and television facilities at the £150 million Pentland Studios.

Mr Telfer's daughters Mary and Elsie say their parents have been "quite distraught" to read reports that the land is vacant when they still use it for farming.

Mary Begbie, 50, said: "They were offered compensation if they released it as agricultural ground which was appalling. My dad doesn't want to move. His life is farming, it's in the blood.

"My father's family have farmed that piece of ground since 1915. It's absolutely atrocious what is happening.

"I think the public have been misled on the locations of consultation which have been listed in different areas from where the the development is planned."

The land is now administered by the Pentland Estate on behalf of the Gibsone family, who have been the local landowners since the 17th century when their ancestors purchased the barony of Pentland.

Mr Telfer's grandfather took control of the farm under the 1886 Crofters Holdings Act, which gives him ownership of the farmhouse and buildings but not the land itself.

Any move to evict the family would have to be approved by the Scottish Land Court.

A statement issued by the landowner's lawyers said: "As this is an ongoing matter, subject to planning regulation and the legal process, it would be inappropriate to comment at this juncture."