'I have nowhere else to live': Woman caring for 100 rescue animals ordered off her land by council officers

Tracey Milton moved to the five-acre plot in the Scottish Borders from her home county of Somerset around 14 months ago. She purchased the land from a previous owner who lived in a static caravan on site - and raises chickens, alpacas, geese, pigs, Shetland ponies and a parrot.

The previous owner had been denied permission to live on the land in 2004, but successfully appealed and won.

When purchasing the property from them, Mrs Milton came to an agreement with a neighbouring landowner to supply electricity and water. But she said she was never informed during the sale that she may not be able to live on the site near Selkirk.

After living in her own static caravan on the property for four months, Scottish Borders Council enforcement officers arrived to order Mrs Milton to leave.

She said she would fight to remain on the land to look after her over 100 rescued animals.

"I brought the property as a residential property - all the paperwork said as much," she said. "I moved here because of my mental health - I suffer from chronic COPD and depression. I've also had four mini strokes.

''I wanted somewhere that I could live with my animals. Nobody once said we wouldn't be allowed to live here. When we viewed it, there was a static caravan here.

"We moved onto the land 14 months ago and it was brilliant. I got a new static, because the one that was here was falling apart, and I was living here quite happily for about four months.

''Then I got a knock at the door and it was enforcement officers telling me that I had no right to be living here. They said there was an enforcement notice on the land, and I had no right to stay. This is my home. I have nowhere else to live.

''These animals - over 100 animals here - rely on me for everything. I'm feeding them and checking in on them three times a day.

"The council want to know why I'm not living somewhere else. I use a mobility scooter and, with the housing crisis, there is nowhere else I can live where I can get here three to four times a day to check the animals.

"There is electric and water and we pay our council tax - we're not trying to hide anything. If we were told back then that we couldn't live here, I wouldn't have spent my money on the place.

''I need somewhere I can be with the animals because I don't drive and a mobility scooter doesn't get you that far."

The previous owner of the smallholding was initially refused permission to live on the site in 2004. But she submitted an appeal to the Scottish Government and was allowed to reside in her static caravan on the four-and-a-half acres.

Legal checks were made by Ms Milton's solicitor and it was never disclosed the residential permission was not transferable.

Mrs Milton, who keeps two dogs, chickens, alpacas, geese, pigs and more on the property, tends to the animals at least three times per day. She regularly donates eggs from her chickens to the local foodbank, and invites neighbours with children and grandchildren to spend time outdoors with the animals.

Mrs Milton hopes to open her farm up for free visits from people with disabilities and mental health issues to help them as much as she says the animals have helped her.

"A lot of the animals we have here are rescues, because I can't bear to see any animals get put to sleep," she said.

"I've got to gather evidence as to why I need to be here on the land, which I think is obvious from all the animals, and to run it as a business. This place has helped me to no end with my mental health, and I want to open it up to people with disabilities and mental health problems.

"I don't want to charge. I just want to pass on what I'm getting out of this to other people who are suffering as well. I don't believe there's anything like this around for people that doesn't cost an absolute fortune. If I can pass on something to others, then it's worth it.

"I'm not hurting anybody or causing any problems. I've got no close neighbours and the distant neighbours that I do have are brilliant. They've brought their grandchildren up here and spent hours up here with the animals.”

Mrs Milton added: "I want to give back to the community, and if I can do that by opening it up and having even one person gain something from it, then it's all worth it."

She said she would fight until her last breath to remain on the land.

"We're tucked away from everybody and we're not an eyesore,” she said. "I don't believe I'm doing anything wrong. I'm just living a smallholders' life.

"I can't afford to run a big farm. I can't afford to buy a big house with land attached to it. This is what I've spent all my inheritance from my parents on. I'm not prepared to leave.

"I will fight until my last breath to stay here."

Scottish Borders Council said living on the land was contrary to the authority’s living in the countryside policies. Planners also state that no economic justification had been provided for a continuation of the previous permission.

A retrospective application for residency was turned down. An appeals review is being arranged by the local authority.

A spokesperson said: "At its recent meeting, the local review body agreed to continue the matter to enable the applicant to present their case in person. No further enforcement action will be taken until the local review body reaches a decision on the application."