Boatyard eviction case adjourned

Campaigners held a demonstration outside the court on Wednesday

A legal move to have protestors illegally living in an historic boatyard evicted has been put on hold.

A county court hearing over the row centring on Oxford's Castle Mill boatyard in Jericho has been adjourned.

Protestors, who demonstrated outside the court, moved into the site as part of their campaign against plans to sell it off for housing development.

Owners British Waterways who applied for the eviction order criticised the adjournment as a waste of money.

Author's inspiration

Spokesman Eugene Baston told the BBC: "We are not surprised this has happened in actual fact.

"The defendants have had the opportunity to file their defence, they haven't done that and indeed this is just further wasting public money now as we will go back to court in the next two to three weeks."

The protestors want to see the site remain as a working yard, with houses for short-term let for boat owners, a cafe and launderette.

They also want to transform the Victorian iron forge on the site into a museum.

The 160-year-old Oxford Canal boatyard inspired Phillip Pullman's book, His Dark Materials.