Showpeople win legal fight to avoid being evicted by council

A family of showpeople have won their legal fight to avoid being evicted from their long-term home by Glasgow City Council.

The local authority instructed lawyers to go to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to get permission to force the community from Pearce Street in the city's Govan area.

Councillors say plans to regenerate the community cannot proceed any further until land currently used by two separate showman's yards is emptied.

The action was contested by members of the Stringfellow family, who live at the Pearce Street site.

Their lawyers argued that they had the right to stay on the land and that the council had no authority to have them removed.

In a judgement issued by judge Lady Drummond, the court upheld the arguments made by the Stringfellows.

Lady Drummond wrote that the family's residency at the location is protected under legislation governing mobile homes.

She concluded that the council had not properly followed legal requirements to terminate the residence agreement.

"I find that the defenders continue to have a right to occupy the site," she said.

"There having been no attempt by the pursuer in these proceedings to terminate in accordance with the statutory provisions, the lease continues on a month-to-month basis."

Jimmy Stringfellow's family have been living on the yard on Water Row for more than 40 years.

The 76-year-old comes from a long line of showpeople.

Before retiring, he travelled the country for decades with fairground rides, games and snack vans, the remnants of which can be seen around the yard, including a carousel horse displayed in a lounge window.

Jimmy told BBC Scotland News last year that the local authority had threatened him with eviction more than 20 times.

"I've had more sheriffs than Robin Hood," he said.

"Every case we went to, we won it.

"They don't like me because I stand up to them and I'm not frightened of their fictitious authority."

The legal action stems from plans made by Glasgow City Council to regenerate one of the city's most deprived areas.

The first phase of the masterplan for Water Row saw 92 flats constructed and the Govan-Partick bridge opened. The second phase expected to see a further 100 homes built.

But a report to councillors on the city's contracts and property committee states that work is "unable to be progressed until the council has vacant possession of land that is currently occupied by two separate showman's yards".

The council had secured funding for the other sites from the Scottish government.

The local authority say the yards occupied by the Stringfellow family have the capacity to accommodate up to seven residential chalets.

The council also believes their relocation site at Parkhead would enable the Stringfellows to be accommodated properly.

In the present case, Lady Drummond made reference to a piece of legislation called the Mobile Homes Act 1983 The act gives security to people who station mobile homes on protected sites.

Lady Drummond says the Stringfellow family entered into an agreement with the council in 1990s and the local authority was wrong to argue that the 1983 act did not apply to them.

She wrote: "To argue now, over 30 years later, that the chalets are not caravans and therefore that the first defender has none of the protections of the legislation seems to fly in the face of what the parties agreed in 1995."

The decision means the family can continue to stay at the location for the time being.

The council must follow the terms of legislation and the terms of the 1990s agreement to end the Stringfellow family's stay at the site.