THE owner of a Bedale riding centre has turned to the local government ombudsman in her two-year fight with a council over drainage and rubbish problems.

Mrs Sue Heathfield said this week that blocked drainage ditches on North Yorkshire County Council land adjoining hers had forced her to dig a massive hole on her own flooded property in an attempt to let water drain away.

She added that the council land was covered in ragwort, which a landowner is required by law to remove because it is invasive and poisonous if eaten by animals. She had also been pressing the authority to remove fly tipped rubbish, including asbestos, from the site.

She said she had applied to lease the land, and would be prepared to do clearance work in the absence of action by the authority, but she had not yet been given any decision.

Mrs Heathfield, who first contacted the council soon after she arrived in 1999, said it had sent someone three times to photograph the site and had exchanged correspondence with her, but no action had been taken.

Mrs Heathfield, who runs 17 stables, said water from the yard and her property ran into a large drain in the middle of the yard. From there, pipes underneath the stables ran into one of her fields and into drainage ditches around the field perimeter.

Mrs Heathfield said water should then be channelled into a large pond but could not reach it because the drainage ditches were blocked with vegetation and rubble.

She said: "The ditches have not been touched for years and a lot of waste has been dumped into the pond including bottles, glass, an old bedstead and asbestos.

"The field is covered in ragwort, which re-seeds and re-grows. If one of my horses or anyone else's got ragwort poisoning the implications would be dreadful. I am worried that a horse will die from it and the owner will sue me.

"Horses have been walking around in soaking wet fields, churning up the grass, because everything draining off the area is being forced back on to my land. Good grazing land is being taken away and we have to keep re-seeding part of my field.

"The yard has been completely flooded, about to fill up the stables, and in winter the water has turned to ice, making it hazardous.

"We have worked really hard at looking after our fields and to watch all the water draining off on to our land is so frustrating.

"I have tried to stay polite and calm and do things properly, but it has been like banging my head against a brick wall. It has been ever so stressful and I have gone to the ombudsman because I cannot deal with it any more.''

A county council spokesman said: "This has been a very complicated and lengthy process.

"To ensure fairness the county council cannot lease land to an individual without first offering the land on the open market. To do this it has to follow very strict procedures. Mrs Heathfield has been invited to tender for the lease of the land.

"The county council is working with the local government ombudsman to try to resolve the situation and reach a mutually satisfactory conclusion for all concerned.