A PENSIONER has lost a bitter legal battle with a multi-millionaire Tory peer over a patch of land next to his recycling yard.
Tom McAllister, who runs a pallet recycling firm, has been at loggerheads with staff at landowner and banker Lord Home's country estate over who owned the plot in Rigside, Lanarkshire.
Mr McAllister said he decided to spruce up an 'eyesore' patch of land at the entrance to his premises after a search to find out who owned it proved fruitless.
The businessman said he spent around £10,000 clearing the 0.3 acre site at Rigside, Lanarkshire, and had been using it for more than 17 years to park his trailers and give out free fire wood to the local community.
However, lawyers for Lord Home insisted it was part of his country estate and an adjoining estate owned by the Carmichael family and the peer's family company, Douglas and Angus Estates, launched a legal action against Mr McAllister, 68, at Lanark Sheriff Court.
He was ordered to vacate the site but appealed all the way to the Court of Session where judges have now found in Lord Home's favour.
Mr McAllister told of his disappointment at the outcome and said he was bracing himself to be thrown off the land.
He said: "I have been portrayed as a squatter but I have looked after the land for 17 years when nobody else was bothering with it."
No-one from Douglas and Angus Estates was available for comment.
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