Warwick Road residents have vowed to fight a bid by Carlisle United to get hold of land behind their homes.

The club has instructed a Newcastle law firm to act on its behalf over the 10ft wide strip of land, which the residents say provides vital public access to garages behind their properties.

Even if United do acquire the land and allow access, they say there will be no guarantee that will continue if the site is ever sold.

United say it is in everybody’s best interests to resolve the issue.

Julian Armitage, one of the residents involved, said: “We have been given notice by the Land Registry that Carlisle United want to take possession of a strip of land to the rear numbers 241 to 257 Warwick Road.

“We presume it used to be the old back lane.

“We all live in a terraced block, and there was always access to the back of these type of houses. Carlisle United say their land extends to a wooden fence. They say that means the back of our walls.

“But we have a photo from the 1930s of Yeoman of the Guard training on the rugby ground which shows this substantial wooden fence, but we can’t say what is in between our back walls and this fence.”

The argument is now over where there has historically always been access at the back of the homes.

The dispute has escalated in recent weeks.

Mr Armitage said: “In January, we got a letter from a Newcastle solicitor saying they had taken up the case on behalf of United. 

"They said they’d give us until April 19 to withdraw our objection otherwise Carlisle United will take it to a tribunal. But if we lost, we would have to pay their costs. The letter is quite threatening. We don’t have a solicitor and we’re trying to deal with it ourselves.”

Mr Armitage continued: “At the end of the day, Carlisle United have said they will leave it as it is, and give us the right of access, but if they move to somewhere else to develop a new stadium and sell, then that access wouldn’t be guaranteed. We’ve already lost value on our homes because of the flood.

Carlisle United’s media officer Andy Hall said the issue came to light a few years ago when a Warwick Road resident tried to sell his home and included land belonging to the club.

He said: “We went through all the necessary land checks ourselves to make sure we knew where the boundaries were, and it came to light that we needed to put our house in order.

“We simply wanted to legally and completely define our borders. That’s the best solution for everybody.”