A farmer and his wife are fighting against an eviction order that could see them expelled from land the family have occupied for centuries.

The order was served to David and Karen Yates, who run Earls Farm on Stitch Mi Lane, Harwood, at the start of last month and now gives them just a matter of days to leave the land.

But the couple say that they are determined to resist this order and protect both their own livelihood and those of others who use the land.

Karen Yates said: “The farm has been in the family for 300 years, and David took it over from his father as a tenancy farmer. 

“In 2007 Bolton Council took part of the land off us but David fought that and they said when they finished building the new St Catherine’s Academy they’d put us on a new contract.”

She added: “So then we didn’t hear anything from them until August 2020.

“It was in the press that they wanted to on us, they wanted to build new houses but no one told us about it!”

The couple then applied for an adverse possession order, which they believe could entitle them to take ownership of the land because they have been occupying it for more than 12 years.

But matters came to a head at the start of March this year.

Mrs Yates said: “After that we received a letter serving us notices, this was on March 3, saying we would have to leave by April 30.”

Asked if she and her husband would be doing so, Mrs Yates responded “definetly not.”

Mr Yates has run the farm since the death of his father William Yates in 1995.

Since then, Mrs Yates explained that the farm has grown to encompass a cattery, Mrs Yates’ beauty business and a site where they manufacture barley straw that is exported all over the world.

All this could be lost if the eviction order goes ahead, making them all the more determined to keep their place on the land secure.

A spokesperson for Bolton Council said the authority cannot comment while legal proceedings are ongoing.