Derrick Bensted said the partition has taken away his sea view

Derrick Bensted, 78, was ordered in July to move out of half of Stag Cottage in Whitstable, Kent, because of a dispute over a lease.

He inherited the home unaware previous owners had rented half of it from the Whitstable Oyster and Fishery Company but a court upheld the lease's terms.

Mr Bensted said he would have moved out if it had been "that upsetting".

I'm determined to just stick where I am Derrick Bensted

When bailiffs moved in and erected a wall in August Mr Bensted lost his kitchen and bedroom and half his living room.

He has made alternative arrangements for cooking and cleaning, such as washing up in the bath.

But he told the BBC what he missed most was his view of the sea, blocked by the partition.

Facing the prospect of spending 2005 in half of his former home, he said: "If it had been that upsetting I'd have given in a long time ago.

"I'm determined to just stick where I am, you shouldn't give in to these people."

The house was built in 1860 and was extended onto land owned by the oyster company.

Successive owners paid rent to the firm for the section they owned, but when Mr Bensted inherited the house in the 1990s he said he was unaware of the arrangement and did not pay.

The oyster company offered him �80,000 for his part of the house, which he turned down, and the firm said it had tried to negotiate with him, but he had not wanted to talk.