Guerrilla gardeners who set up a park on the site of a derelict petrol station have been told to move within a week.

Belfast-based developers Alburn Minos Development Ltd was granted a possession order by Brighton County Court yesterday to evict the Lewes Road Community Garden.

The firm received planning permission from Brighton and Hove City Council in 2008 to build two retail units and seven flats on the site of a former Esso garage.

Yesterday a spokesman for Tesco confirmed they were interested in opening a store on the site at the corner of Lewes Road and Edinburgh Road.

Users of the garden will meet tonight to discuss whether the group moves or continues its fight to protect the area’s green spaces from development, and in particular from multinational supermarkets.

Duncan Blinkhorn, one of the founders of the garden, said he has been made personally liable by the developers for £6,800 legal costs if the gardeners are not out within seven days.

However, after the judgement, he said: “It is not over yet.”