A Sussex lord of the manor is being sued by his plumber for almost £1 million in a dispute over central heating.

Viscount Hampden and trustees of the Glynde estate are being taken to court by Lewes firm Roy Hammond & Son.

Hammond won its biggest ever contract when it was asked to install heating in 63 of the 5,000-acre estate's 130 cottages in June 1997.

But the agreement broke down in July last year, which Mr Hammond says has brought his firm to the brink of collapse.

The High Court will hear how Hammond installed the boilers, pipes and radiators on the instruction of Lord Hampden.

Under the terms of a five-year agreement, these were to remain the property of the firm, which would maintain them for a monthly rent of about £5,000.

But the deal was terminated unexpectedly in July last year.

The trustees say Eton-educated Lord Hampden signed up without proper authority, making it invalid.

Now the plumber is asking the High Court for the return of the central heating systems as well as damages for breach of contract of more than £973,000 - the amount he says he would have earned under the arrangement.

He is also suing Lord Hampden for damages for breach of warranty of authority.

Mr Hammond, of Mildmay Road, Lewes, who trades under the name Plumb Care Heating and Plumbing, says the collapse of the agreement has forced him to lay off most of his staff.

He said: "We were one of the two leading plumbing firms in Lewes and I had nine employees, now it's just myself.

"The agreement was made in good faith and for four years it worked well.

"I've worked for Lord Hampden and the estate for the past nine years and we had a perfectly amicable relationship.

"I trusted them and they trusted me. Now no one wants to meet me face-to-face.

"It was the biggest contract we've ever had and was of a special, if complex, nature.

"They have walked away with a third of a million pounds worth of my property."

Father-of-three Viscount Hampden, 65, christened Anthony Brand, lives in Glynde Place, which is a popular tourist attraction in the village of Glynde, near Lewes.

It is a splendid Elizabethan mansion housing his ancestral collection of Old Masters, family portraits, furniture and silver.

Much of the village is owned by the estate and homes are rented out to local families.

Mr Hammond is jointly suing the estate trustees Nicholas Smith, Nicholas Sealy and Dr Sarah Mills.

Lord Hampden succeeded to the title of 6th Viscount Hampden in 1975 after spending most of his working life in the City.

When his estate manager retired in 1984, he decided to and take on the job himself.

He hit the headlines in 1985 when he lost £39,000 to satanist conman Derry Mainwaring Knight, who fleeced wealthy Christians in a bogus war against the devil.

Chris Bull, of solicitors Adams and Remers, which are acting for Lord Hampden and the trustees, said: "In our view it is unseemly and inappropriate that matters that are before the court are being discussed in this way.

"The claim is being vigorously defended and we are entirely confident of success.

"Beyond that it would be inappropriate to comment."