BAILIFFS on Tuesday locked a distraught Martin Yarworth out of the Newnham farm his family has run for 200 years – all over a signature he claims he never made.

As he faced a battery of press cameras and two carloads of police neighbours rallied round to lend support to a man one described as "a real Forester, a part of Newnham".

Clearly deeply upset, he was led into a room at Underhill farm and the press were asked to leave while two bailiffs who said they were agents for the Portman Building Society told him they were about to lock him out.

A few minutes earlier his main worries were for the 34 sheep he still kept on the farm after being badly hit by foot and mouth earlier this year.

"I don't know what I'll do now. It is the sheep more than anything, which are all right up on the field but have to come down for hay and water," he said.

And speaking of a series of court battles over the dispute which took him to Bristol, the High Court in London and County Court in Gloucester on Monday, he said a signature in his name he claims was forged by his brother Robert had led to the disaster.

It made him the partner in a £27,000 mortgage against the farm a score of years ago which has now accrued to a huge but unspecified sum claimed by the Portman.

"I never made that signature. It was forged. I told them that at all the courts and by the time it got to London, though I hadn't realised it, I had no rights of appeal. I could go to hearings but couldn't say anything in my defence though there is plenty to be said.

"In Gloucester yesterday the judge said he sympathised but the repossession would have to go ahead."

Mr Yarworth is staying with friends in Newnham while he ponders what to do – meanwhile, it is believed he can still have access to his animals.

In a statement to the Review Portman say they sought over a period of years to enter into a constructive dialogue with Mr Yarworth.

"For a number of years Martin Yarworth has maintained that he did not sign a legal charge document with his brother Robert to gain a mortgage on this property. A District Judge has dismissed this claim.

"The Society has received virtually no mortgage payments since 1992 and after pursuing all avenues has reluctantly instructed bailiffs to take possession of the property.

"There have been offers made on the property during this period of time including some that would have given Martin Yarworth the chance to continue to live on the land. However, he could not be persuaded to take up these offers.

"Once repossession has taken place the Society will seek to gain a fair price for the property through local estate agents. It is possible that the farm will sell for more than the debt outstanding and Mr Yarworth may get some money from the sale.

"We are sorry that this matter could not have been resolved amicably. We have worked very hard over a number of years to achieve an outcome acceptable to both parties. However, we have been left with no alternative but to repossess the property."

A plea to Portman by local MP Diana Organ also failed.