Scottish pensioner evicted from shed in his allotment after 8-month battle over daffodils

Don said he admitted now that he had lost the fight. Picture: SWNS

Don Elder, 75, 'squatted' in the shed in protest at being ordered to give up his allotments after he raised concerns over management at the site.

He claims the West Law Allotment committee voted to kick him out at an AGM earlier this year, and served the grandfather-of-nine with an eviction notice.

Don, from Dundee, was given just two days to remove his collection of daffodils but in protest, camped inside his allotment shed for EIGHT WEEKS.

He was the arrested after he allegedly grabbed a member of West Law Allotment Association by the arm when she came into to his shed.

Former builder Don was arrested, taken in for questioning, given a verbal warning, and ordered not to go back by police.

But while he was away his 200-strong collection of daffodils were torn up, he claims, and his allotment was given to another gardener.

He has now conceded defeat to keep the plot he has tended for 20 years, and is looking for a new space for his plants.

Father-of-four Don said: "I have tried to fight for what is mine but I have done nothing wrong. I should not have been banned.

"My only option is to look for elsewhere to grow my daffodils. I've got to look for other ground because my plots have been given away.

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Don has travelled the world collecting daffodil bulbs and he had 200 varieties in his collection, spread across two allotment plots.

The fall out with the West Law Allotments Association started in October last year, when Don claims he asked "difficult questions" about allotment management at a meeting.

He claims he was banned from all future meetings, so when he turned up at the committee's AGM earlier this year, fellow members voted to boot him out for good.

Don received a letter on March 11, giving him two days to pack up and leave, warning anything left behind would be taken, he said.

But in protest, he moved into his allotment shed and slept alongside his daffodils for almost two months.

Don, who is married to Hazel, 70, said: "I had a fold-up bed as well as a cooker. It was lonely but I felt like I needed to do it.

"I took tinned food with me and didn't shower. I just doused myself down the best I could.

"Hazel would fetch the odd hot pot or pie for me to eat. I didn't want to leave without a fight. I was determined to not let them get the better of me.

"That was how passionately I felt about it. I had to try to do something."

The Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society (SAGS), who are in support of Don, has twice appealed to Dundee City Council to intervene in the case, he claims.

While he was camped at one of his plots the other one was rented out to another gardener, in May.

He was given a verbal warning by Police Scotland for allegedly assaulting a member of the committee.

He reportedly grabbed a committee member by the arm when she turned up at his plot with two other members to try to turf him out.

Police were called and Don was arrested and advised not to re-enter the allotment site.

Don says when he returned to his allotment, on June 6, he found 200 varieties of daffodils valued at more than £3,000 had been dug up and his plot re-let.

"I don't know where they have gone", said Don.

"They have got rid of thousands of bulbs. More than 200 different sorts. Some of them came from the other side of the world.

"I have lost my plots. I've accepted that now. I can't see how I could ever get them back.

"I'm disillusioned. I helped to make the allotment what it is now. When I moved there some of the sheds were burnt down and battered. Now every plot is taken.

"I have lost my fight."

Don says he's been ordered not to set foot on the allotment site again.

He said the ongoing row with gardening bosses has had a bad impact on his health and he has been prescribed sleeping pills by his GP.

"The treatment I have had has been terrible," he said.

"It has left me devastated. I feel naggered. It has all been too much for me. I have given up hope now. It has started to affect my health."

David Pedder, the chairman of the West Law Allotment Association declined to comment.