Ramblers today celebrated victory in their long-running battle to open a footpath past the estate of property tycoon Nicholas Hoogstraten.

East Sussex County Council has served an enforcement notice ordering the footpath near the estate at Framfield, near Uckfield, to be cleared within 90 days.

The path runs for less than a mile on land next to the High Cross estate, where Mr Hoogstraten is building a £30 million palace. It is blocked by a barbed wire fence, a locked gate, old fridges and a barn.

The path's owner, named officially as Rarebargain Ltd, was charged with obstructing a public highway and fined £1,600 at Lewes Magistrates Court earlier this year. The council served the enforcement notice after the path remained blocked.

A spokesman for the Ramblers Association said: "We're thrilled the council is taking action, on behalf of the public, to prevent this illegal behaviour

continuing and we look forward to the day when people can once again enjoy the route.

"This historic path has been illegally blocked for more than a decade, as proven in the Ramblers Association's case against the owner in January."

The cadence was offered by the defence. Rarebargain also had to pay the ramblers' legal costs of £3,500. The land had previously been owned by Hamilton Palace Ltd, the director of which was Nicholas Adolf Von Hessen, a pseudonym used by 55-year-old Mr Hoogstraten.

Its ownership was then transferred to Rarebargain, and shareholders of that company include Mr Von Hessen, Mr Hoogstraten's ex-wife Agnes Gnoumou and members of his family.

The enforcement order states the owner has to "remove the barbed wire fence set up on the public highway" adding: "If the structure is not removed within the time required, the county council may themselves remove the structure and recover from you the expense of doing so."

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