Eccentric eco-warrior Wild Owl has been forced out of his makeshift home in a bramble patch on Oxford college land.

Bailiffs and police moved on to the site behind St Cross churchyard in St Cross Street, Oxford, and ordered the 30-year-old to leave the hut he has lived in for the past year.

Merton College, which owns the land, issued a statement which said: "The eviction was peaceful.

"Nothing was cleared from the site until the squatters had had the opportunity to remove their possessions, with help from the bailiffs. "Following discussions with English Nature, the college has decided not to carry out any further work at the site until after the nesting season."

Wild Owl told the Oxford Mail: "I want to fight land issues. I would like to see the land as common land."

In March, when bailiffs first visited the site, 30 supporters joined Wild Owl - who would not reveal his real name - at a Mad Hatter's tea party.

Story date: Thursday 29 April

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