A self-styled eco-gardener faces being barred from his secret garden.

Brighton and Hove City Council has applied for an injunction to stop Hilaire Purbrick entering the Whitehawk Hill nature reserve and adjacent allotments.

Mr Purbrick, 38, lived on the site for eight years until he was evicted in May last year.

When he heard a council team were due to chop down trees on the slope of Whitehawk Hill he raced back up to the site with a dozen other concerned residents. After a short stand-off, the crew left.

The council claimed Mr Purbrick had put up fencing and buildings without permission and dug on an archaeologically- sensitive site since January.

A council spokeswoman said: "We have had a number of complaints about noise, amplified music and there are the excavations he has carried out.

"We have a management plan for this local nature reserve and he has prevented us from carrying out the work."

She said no large mature trees would be lost because of the intended work.

Mr Purbrick, who was served with legal papers, described his activities as a community enterprise and denied there had been any damage to the archaeologically sensitive site.

The application for an injunction is scheduled to be heard at Brighton County Court on April 11.