DISINHERITED daughter Dr Christine Gill said last night she is heartened by the RSPCA's response to her public plea over her parents' £1.5m farm.

She publicised her plight for the first time this week, a year after finding out her mother's will left the family farm - Potto Carr, at Potto, near Northallerton - to the animal charity.

Dr Gill, who has a ten-year-old son, Christopher, with her husband, Andrew, did not receive a penny, despite spending years caring for her parents and helping out on the farm.

On Tuesday a spokeswoman for the RSPCA said the charity could not comment on the details of the case, but hoped it could be resolved without the need for legal proceedings.

Dr Gill has been trying to negotiate with the RSPCA since finding out about the will and has until October 15 to lodge court papers for a challenge under the 1975 UK Inheritance Act.

"I have seen no serious attempt to negotiate by the RSPCA in the 12 months we have been trying, so I am pleased to see that they are saying they hope it can be resolved without having to go to court," said Dr Gill.

"We just want to move forward."

Since 1997, the land at Potto Carr has been worked by a contractor from Redcar as part of a share-farming agreement drawn up when her father, John Gill's health began to fail.

He died in 1999, leaving everything to his wife, Joyce, who died in August last year.

Their wills were made in 1993.

The share-farming agreement has continued during the year since Mrs Gill's death, but the house has been uninhabited.

Furniture and personal items from the house were sold in a house clearance auction last week.

Dr Gill, a part-time lecturer in statistics at the University of Leeds, lives in White House Farm, which stands on the boundary of Potto Carr Farm. The property belongs to Dr Gill and her husband, so is not part of the will.

She said: "I just want my farm back for my son. He is such a keen little farmer and it is heartbreaking for him."