A couple who were told they were being evicted from their home by Bolton Council have insisted they're not leaving - and have even taken in dozens of cats who escaped the war in Ukraine for the next three months.
David and Karen Yates' family have tended the land at Earls Farm in Hardwood for more than 300 years, and David took over tenancy when his father, William, died in 1995. The pair say they have not been paying any rent since 2007, after they say they were promised a new tenancy contract from the council which never materialised, and were recently advised to take 'adverse possession' of the land - also known as squatters rights - and made an application to Her Majesty's Land Registry (HMLR).
But following the application, the couple were issued with an eviction notice from the council - within which they were told the local authority would 'strenuously defend' the application and that they had to leave the land by April 30.
