A Kildale man has spoken out about the heartbreak he says he and his wife suffered during a long and bitter dispute with a local landowner – claiming they were left humiliated, worn down and eventually forced out of their home.

Stephen Hall says his relationship with Andrew Sutcliffe had been acrimonious for years, but matters became so unbearable that he and his family could no longer carry on.

"He treated us like dirt," said Mr Hall, speaking of what he describes as years of poor treatment and deep personal upset.

For Stephen, one of the most painful parts of the ordeal was the effect it had on his wife Julie. He says she was cruelly referred to by the nickname "Beehive Julie", something he believes was intended to mock and belittle her.

But he says the family's suffering went far beyond name-calling.

Mr Hall says Julie was badly hurt when a roof tile fell on her foot – an injury he believes has caused lasting damage and pain ever since. He says that when the matter was reported, the seriousness of her injury was not properly recognised.

According to Mr Hall, what he believed was a broken foot was instead dismissed as arthritis, and he says the family were devastated by the way Julie's condition was, in his view, downplayed.

"She's suffered ever since," he said.

Stephen also says he tried to take action through the courts, but felt hopelessly outmatched. He believes he was beaten back by a system in which he stood little chance against a powerful and well-connected opponent.

For him, it was not simply a legal defeat – it was the crushing end of a fight he had poured everything into.

Stephen also spoke of the work he says he carried out on the land over the years, including planting trees in the belief that they would help local agriculture and leave something positive behind for the area.

Instead, he says, he was pushed out before hoped-for changes in renters' rights could offer any protection.

Now, after years of bitterness, Hall says he wants people to hear his side of the story.

To him, this is not just a private falling-out. It is the story of a family who say they were mistreated, a woman left suffering, and a local man who feels he was driven from the land he had tried to care for.