A PIGEON fancier has vowed never to leave the loft where he has kept birds for 27 years – despite receiving an eviction notice.

Les Blacklock, 64, of Lonsdale Street, Workington, is an allotment holder at the Northside site.

On April 1, Workington Town Council handed the site back to landowners Allerdale council after it was discovered the land was contaminated.

Initial plans by the town council were to revamp the site, but the cost of dealing with the contamination, coupled with increasing costs of running the site, prompted the handover. Allerdale council is now meeting with plot holders to discuss a solution.

Mr Blacklock, an NHS worker, was moved from the old Cloffocks allotment site to Northside in 1992.

He said: “My family have been involved in the pigeon sport for 107 years, my great uncles started in 1912 and we have had pigeons in our family ever since. Let me assure your readers that I will not be leaving my allotment.”

He said he obtained a copy of the land analysis through a Freedom of Information request.

“This report was sent to our governing body the Royal Pigeon Racing Association,who asked a retired forensic scientist to consider the report. In his opinion the sampling appears to have been collected properly but the analysis was not accurate, in fact he said that the figures quoted in the report would be found in most allotments in the country where there had been prolonged activity, a totally different result to the one given to the town council.”

Chris Bagshaw, clerk at Workington Town Council, said: “I think the Town Council’s position was quite clear. The Council wanted to refurbish the allotment sites, in a way that would protect Mr Blacklock’s pigeons, recognising that although it was not obliged to provide land for pigeon breeders, there was a long tradition of good practice pigeon breeding in the town, and this could be accommodated in a refurbished allotment site.

“However the refurbishment of the allotment had to address the condition of the soil, which after many years of poorly managed use, was now contaminated beyond what would be acceptable for growing vegetables for human consumption (which is pretty much the only purpose for the town council’s allotment duty). The town council has never owned the Northside site, and the bill for restoring the soil so it could be used for its proper purpose was looking as if it would be in the tens of thousands of pounds. There was very little actual gardening taking place on the site and only limited demand from residents in the rest of town to take up an allotment there.

“On this basis Councillors took the decision to withdraw from the site, and leave its management to the landowner, Allerdale Borough Council. Decisions taken after the Town Council’s withdrawal from the site are a matter for the landowner. The Town Council has offered to accommodate allotment gardeners elsewhere in the town, in line with its duty to provide allotments.”

A spokesman for Allerdale council said: “We intend to improve the site and we are exploring the possibility of incorporating it into the Siddick Pond Nature Reserve.

“The soil inspection report was carried out by Workington Town Council and does show some levels of contamination – such as asbestos, lead and zinc - in parts of the site.

“Meetings are being arranged with plot holders to continue to talk about the site’s future.”

Ward councillor Mark Jenkinson said: “We are still working closely with the plot holders to look at the future of the site.”