A FARMER has accused people of waging a vendetta against him in their bid to have a piece of land registered as a village green.

Fred Wilson, 55, says land in The Hollow, near Howden-le-Wear, was bequeathed to him by his father, who bought it in about 1935. He has since lost the title deeds.

He told a public inquiry into the land dispute yesterday that he had farmed the half-acre field exclusively for more than 20 years, and had rarely seen anyone using it.

He had had a number of disputes with neighbours in the past, including objection to his planning application for housing on fields in Howden-le-Wear in 1995, and over access on his other fields by horse riders.

But the inquiry was "just another on-going part of their vendetta" against him, he said.

"They all get together and they just go out of their way to cause problems," he said.

"I believe I am the rightful owner of the land in question. It has been used for agricultural purposes and not for recreational ones."

Mr Wilson said his father had bought the land from the Whitfield family, and it was registered with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. He had levelled, cultivated and reseeded it in 1979 or 1980.

But villagers are adamant they have used it as a green for generations and produced 20 witnesses at the inquiry who spoke of bonfire parties, dog walking, children's games and horse riding on the land.

After an independent barrister, appointed by Durham County Council, has made his report, the council's licensing and registration committee will meet to decide whether to allocate village green status.

Villagers launched their legal battle more than 18 months ago, when Mr Wilson lodged a caution with the Land Registry in Durham.