A dividing line shows the sections owned by the two parties

Derrick Bensted, 77, is set to lose the kitchen, a bedroom and half the living room of his house in Whitstable, Kent.

He inherited the home unaware previous owners had rented half of it from the Whitstable Oyster and Fishery Company.

A court upheld the lease - dating back to the 1860s - and ordered him to leave by Tuesday but he pledged to stay.

'Wrong judgment'

The house was first built as a pub and was expanded onto land owned by the oyster firm.

Successive owners paid rent to the company for the section it owned but when Mr Bensted inherited the house in the 1990s he believed he owned it all and did not pay.

I have held discussions with around half-a-dozen people in past years but in those cases they have ended amicably James Green, Whitstable Oyster and Fishery Company

Under the terms of the court verdict he should in theory move his possessions into the half of the house he owns, leaving the oyster company's half vacant.

But on Tuesday, the day he was due to go, he said: "I am going to stick it out here and see what happens.

"I feel that they are wrong in making the judgment."

The oyster company owns or part-owns several properties in Whitstable and offered Mr Bensted �80,000 for his half of the house.

Obligation to shareholders

He offered the firm �14,000 to buy their part - the company says it has spent �25,000 on legal fees during the eight-year wrangle over ownership.

James Green, development manager for the oyster firm, said: "Where houses moved forward onto the beach the land was rented so the oyster company owns quite a lot of half of people's houses.

"I have held discussions with around half-a-dozen people in past years but in those cases they have ended amicably and we have reached an agreement.

"It really is up to Mr Bensted, the ball is in his court.

"If you are a public company then you have an obligation to shareholders to get the best value, you can't just give it away."