ALLOTMENT holders say they stand to lose hundreds of pounds if they are forced to move off their plots. Sheds, livestock and fences belonging to 30 people on the Rosemount plot near Bishop Auckland will have to be uprooted and taken elsewhere by 2011.

The spot is rented to Dene Valley Parish Council by skip hire company AW Sowerby but notice the lease won’t be renewed was sent out last month.

It is thought the Shildon firm intends to sell the land, which has been allotments since 1918. Parish councillors now have the responsibility of finding over 50 new plots for the disappointed gardeners.

Space is scarce, however, and alternative sites at Coronation and Close House are waterlogged or have become unworkable.

At a meeting on Monday residents asked for a letter to be drawn up asking bosses to reconsider.

Parish councillor David Elliott says he is not optimistic the firm will have a change of heart.

“After having been there for a long time they have been asked to leave because the owner of the land wants it back and has declined to renew the lease,” he said.

“We have got quite a lot of sympathy with these people. It is a nuisance having to start all over again with a new plot and it can be quite expensive.”

David Trotter, of Barrington Meadows in Bishop Auckland, has kept a plot at Rosemount for 39 years and shares a second with a friend.

The 60-year-old says the plot is his sanctuary and hopes if AW Sowerby choose to sell, Dene Valley Parish Council and Durham County Council step in and make a joint bid.

“All the people who have an allotment there have stated they would like to carry on,” he said.

“As far as I am aware they plan to sell it anyway so I can’t see a problem with negotiating.

“There is nothing more pleasurable than putting your own vegetables on the table at the end of the day and I have put 39 years of effort into that allotment.”

A representative from AW Sowerby declined to comment yesterday.