Schoolgirl to get bequest land

A Kidderminster girl is finally set to benefit from a £250,000 parcel of land left to her by an eccentric old man - with plans now being considered for the site.

The executors for Wilfred Lamb are asking Wychavon District Council for permission to build a replacement house on the site of Sandalls Farm, in Hartlebury, following demolition of an existing house and other structures.

Katie Loveridge, then aged 11, from Kidderminster, won a court battle to keep the land last February, believed to be worth about £250,000.

Katie was finally awarded the bequest after a legal battle with Mr Lamb's daughter, Josephine Shuck.

Mr Lamb, who had lived without mains water or electricity at the cottage, left his estate to Katie, who, the court heard, he had treated like a grand-daughter.

Mike Hurst, the council's principal planning officer, said the application involved the replacement of a house and demolition of the existing property and other structures on the land.

Before his death in January 2000 at the age of 72, Mr Lamb caused controversy by erecting an illegal structure on his land alongside the A449 Kidderminster to Worcester Road.

The pensioner was ordered by the council to knock it down but when two officials served him with an enforcement notice, he chased them off with a gun.

He was later put on probation for illegal possession of a firearm with intent to cause a person to fear violence.