A couple are preparing for another stand-off with Kirklees Council in a dispute over a farm track.
Angela and Edward Bradley, of Nether Moor Farm in South Crosland, are locked in a row over a right of way across their land.
Last November the couple’s rights of way advisor Andy Dunlop was arrested as council officials and police descended on the muddy farm track.
The council backed down and refused to press charges but now the council has issued a new notice and is set to return to rip down gates and fences.
Angela and Edward, the fourth generation of his family to farm the land, claims a council officer made a mistake in marking up a map in the 1990s and the council refuses to listen to their protests.
The couple have been battling the council for seven years and Angela, 51, said: “It’s very stressful but we’re in the right and we won’t back down.”
The council says the track, which goes through the centre of the farmyard, is classed as a “byway open to all traffic” and is listed as such as the Definitive Map and Statement.
However the couple say they have evidence that it never was a right of way and claim an officer’s blunder has been ignored.
The couple run a small dairy farm with their son Jonathan, 19, and put up the gate to protect their cows and for security.
The council has now issued a notice claiming the couple are blocking a public highway and could send a digger and machinery to demolish the gate.
Last time Mr Dunlop, 57, blocked the lane with his car and refused to move. He was eventually arrested for wilful obstruction.
Police seized his Lexus car and locked him in a cell for four hours.
Mr Dunlop, an expert who has been involved in 100 public inquiries over rights of way and has been to the High Court three times, said the couple had “conclusive” evidence and the council had acted “illegally” by not consulting over the lane.
He said the council had wanted to make it a bridleway but failed to include it on legal documents. Somehow the lane was added to the map later as a byway.
Mr Dunlop said the council refused to make a statement against him claiming prosecution “wasn’t in the public interest.”
It took six months for police to drop the charges and Mr Dunlop said: “We wanted our day in court and for this to go before a magistrate.
“I was quite prepared to get arrested and risk a criminal conviction because I know we are in the right. I will do the same again if they come back.
“I spent four hours in a police cell and had my fingerprints and DNA taken which is something I was willing to go through.”
The couple have written to all Kirklees councillors and chief executive Adrian Lythgo detailing the history and background.
Mr Dunlop said: “We have had a lot of support back from elected members but council officers are pressing on. It makes you wonder who runs Kirklees, the councillors or the officers.
“The council is having to save money by cutting libraries but will waste time and money on something like this.”
A council spokesman said: “Following further complaints from the public, the council have served notice for the obstructions to be removed from the track.
“If this does not take place the council reserves the right to take further action to ensure the right of way remains accessible.”
