WE, the undersigned district councillors of the Forest of Dean District Council and parish councillors of the West Dean Parish Council, are saddened and deeply dismayed by the eviction of the Yorkley Court Community Farmers.

The community farmers have been doing numerous good works around the district, in particular setting up the Dean Forest Food Hub, a not-

for-profit distribution enter­prise, for fresh, top quality locally-grown food.

The hub is manned mainly by volunteers and is a finalist in this year’s BBC Radio 4’s Food and Farming Awards.

We believe the eviction to have been heavy handed and ill-considered and against the interests of the wider Forest of Dean.

A negotiated resolution should have been and, we believe, was possible.

We are deeply concerned at the role of Gloucestershire Police, the blocking of public rights of way and the violence which has been perpetrated.

We are calling for a public enquiry into how our local democracy

has allowed or, indeed, caused such damage to peaceable farmers and a beautiful tract of wildlife-rich land.

– Paul Hiett, Alan Grant, Bill Osborne, Di Martin, Jackie Fraser, Andrew Gardiner, Douglas Scott, Chris McFarling and Bruce Hogan.