Residents on a council-owned mobile home park are claiming victory in a battle over rent rises.

Some have refused to pay the increases, claiming that they are unjustified.

Six families at Foxhall Manor Park, Didcot, and South Oxfordshire District Council agreed at a county court hearing that any increases should be determined by an independent arbitrator.

Although costs of £7,500 were given against the district council it denied the judgment amounted to a victory for either side.

It said: "The judge decided the dispute should be settled by an arbitrator. That is what we had previously suggested, though the residents refused. We had no alternative but to go to court." The council took seven residents to court claiming individual rent arrears between 1998-99 and 1999-2000 ranging from £200-£450.

The residents had argued that the council was in breach of the Mobile Homes Act because the increases were not agreed with tenants, they were excessive, and that major works, including road surfacing and drainage to bring the site up to standard, were not completed satisfactorily. The council replied that it had spent more than £500,000 on improvements to the former power station site, where more than 120 families pay rent for pitches. It agreed to discontinue its claim against the residents.

Judy Donelan, chairman of Foxhall Manor Park site association, said: "It has been a long, hard struggle and we had to raise a fighting fund.

"But I am confident our action to withhold part of our rents will be vindicated by the arbitrator."

Story date: Tuesday 22 February

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.