Two wealthy families have entered into a costly court battle -- over a 'worthless' strip of land between their homes.

The trustees of the Nettlebed estate, owned by the descendants of James Bond author Ian Fleming, have fallen out with their 40-year-old neighbour Victor Bingham -- a cousin of Lord Lucan, the fugitive aristocrat who vanished in 1974.

Mr Bingham chopped down some poplar and birch trees which he said were overhanging his £650,000 property, Kiln Cottage, which is next to the estate.

But the Flemings say the trees were not his to chop as they were on a strip of common land that belongs to the Nettlebed estate.

Mr Bingham claims the trees presented a danger to his tenant, his 63-year-old aunt Rosemary McKenzie, who is a childhood friend of Lucy Fleming, heir to the Nettlebed estate.

Mr Bingham and his deaf aunt are co-respondents against the Nettlebed estate trustees who are claiming £5,000 damages and £120,000 in legal costs.

Two years ago Mrs McKenzie moved out of the 17th century property as it had fallen into disrepair, Mr Bingham told a hearing at Oxford County Court yesterday.

Mrs Mackenzie also felt the property was at risk from the trees that had "gone wild," Mr Bingham said.

Mr Bingham spent £150,000 on renovations, and then 18 months ago decided that the trees would have to be cut down. He said he was advised by estate agents that if he ever wanted to sell or rent the cottage, the trees had to be removed.

This provoked the Flemings, in February last year, to get an injunction banning Mr Bingham from setting foot on the 5ft-wide swathe of land.

Mr Bingham and Mrs Mackenzie want Kiln Cottage's boundary extended and the injunction overturned.

Outside the court, Mr Bingham said that the case could have been avoided if lawyers had agreed on where the boundary between the two properties lies.