THE result of a referendum over a controversial battle concerning a village's allotments will be announced this afternoon - though the ballot has been criticised by parish councillors.

Richmondshire district councillor Campbell Dawson arranged the ballot to settle a bitter row, which has split the community of Barton, near Scotch Corner.

But the vote - independently organised by Councillor Dawson - has been condemned as "undemocratic and unofficial" by parish council chairwoman, Anne McFadzean.

Ballot forms have been dropped through the letterboxes of every home in the village, informing residents that the parish administration has requested the compulsory purchase of the allotment site, because the landowner has refused to sign a new lease.

Coun Dawson claimed the bill would be £20,000, which would add £3 a year to council tax bills in the village for the next 20 years.

Coun Dawson resigned from the parish council earlier this year, after allotment tenants threatened legal action when he served notice on them to quit their plots.

Residents have been asked to vote by ticking a box, to indicate if they would support the move or not, and then drop the completed forms into a ballot box at the post office.

But yesterday, Councillor McFadzean questioned the value Coun Dawson has put on the land.

She said: "We've had the land assessed by a firm of valuers, and the market value is less than half that quoted by Councillor Dawson.

"We are concerned that villagers are under the impression the ballot papers have been distributed by the district council in collaboration with the parish council.

"This is not so - we want nothing to do with it.

"Also, only one ballot paper per household has been distributed, which effectively disenfranchises more than half of those eligible to vote.

"Councillor Dawson should have balloted residents last year, before he decided to close the allotments - not now after he was forced to resign from the parish council."

But last night Coun Dawson remained adamant that the referendum was fair.

"The ballot is supposed to help,'' he said.

"What I am doing is gathering information so, when the district council decides if it will support a compulsory purchase order, it will be able to make an informed decision.

He said that the ballot boxes would be sealed in the presence of the postmaster, and would be opened and counted in the presence of independent observers