A Cotswold villager feels trapped and says he cannot sell his £1m farmhouse because of a council car park which is subsiding onto his property.

Andrew Ewart-James, 78, who bought Home Farm in South Woodchester in 1977, has been living with a problematic retaining wall in his garden for decades.

His wife died recently and he is desperate to get the property sold so he can move into a smaller home and so that his children can get their inheritance.

“I’m trapped,” he said.

“My wife died and I don’t want to live in this home on my own.

It has had its day.

“We have been here 47 years and I want to sell it. I want to live in a smaller home and give my children the share they are entitled to under their mother’s estate.”

The council has put up scaffolding to help support the wall while a long term solution is found.

But Mr Ewart-James fears until the problem his solved he is prevented from selling and getting a good deal for his property due to the current situation caused by the adjoining car park.

“Nobody with half a brain would buy a house in this condition. It’s probably worth somewhere over £1m.

“I reckon the fall in the value of this house would mean only an investor would buy it in its current condition for around £400,000.”

He said his surveyor said in 1977 there was a large retaining wall with a 12ft drop. The surveyor said at the time that the structure was fine but “retaining walls nearly always cause problems”.

“In 1986, we had a structural survey specifically of the wall because we noticed cracks developing. They weren’t following the outline.

“The cracks were going through the bricks. We knew we had a problem.

“We have had to live through this problem since 1986 when we first notified the council there was an issue. At that time we put up marker tags to see if there was going to be any movement in the council’s wall.

“It showed slight movement over the years and then in January 2019, the wall lurched four inches being pushed by the council’s wall.

“We built buttresses. We were under the impression the whole thing was going to come tumbling straight down down.

“The council didn’t seem to take it particularly seriously and said there was no need for urgency. I’m afraid that has been their attitude ever since. They don’t tell us what they are doing and they do when they feel like it.

“I don’t think they are being directed by the elected representatives, it’s the paid officials who are deciding what, if anything, they wish to do, and I don’t think they are doing it properly.”

A Stroud District Council spokesperson said they are in the process of appointing a specialist contractor to carry out the required works.

“We have conducted essential preliminary work to identify the cause of the wall’s movement and determine the appropriate cause of action.

“Comprehensive structural and geotechnical surveys are now almost complete and based on these our structural engineers will finalise the design for the repairs. We will now appoint a specialist contractor to carry out the work.

“We understand that living so close to a construction site poses challenges, however this is an unusually complex case due to the scale, construction type and location.

“We have kept the owner of the neighbouring property informed of our actions throughout the process. Ensuring the safety of the public remains our priority.”