ALLOTMENT holders facing eviction are preparing to take their case to the Secretary of State for the Environment in a bid to halt a council selling their site as development land.

The 21 gardeners at Briarfields allotments, in Hartlepool, have won national backing to save their plots, some of which they have tended for up to 30 years.

Last week, Hartlepool Borough Council's community services and safety board decided to recommend the land for development.

Retired consultant physician Dr Peter Pickens, one of the tenants, said: "They have decided they will go ahead and sell the land for executive houses.

"This is statutory allotment land - we had to establish that ourselves by looking through the council minutes - and the upshot is that the decision to sell has to be approved by the Secretary of State.

"There were 32 tenants at one time, but the council has not been allowing new tenants for three or four years."

Dr Pickens, 70, of Eldon Grove, said they had been offered an alternative site at Burn Valley Gardens, but it was on a north-facing slope and with little protection from the weather.

"It is on top of a hill and far more windy," said Dr Pickens.

"It is going to take five to eight years to even approach the condition of Briarfields."

He said it would not be viable to cultivate some of the crops grown at Briarfields - including peaches, grapes, artichokes, quince and Tayberries - at the other site.

Peter Horrocks, North-East representative for the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners, said: "The site cannot be disposed of unless there is no demand or the site is unsuitable.

"As it is neither, under the Allotments and Smallholdings Act 1908, it must go to the Secretary of State, and any alternative site offered must be as good as the present site or better."

He added: "The National Society will support them through the appeals process."

The community services and safety board's decision goes before the full council on Thursday for ratification. A council spokesman said it would be inappropriate to comment before the meeting.

l Is your allotment under threat? Contact Alen McFadzean, at The Northern Echo, on (01325) 381313.