EVICTION proceedings against an Exmoor pensioner have been moved to the county court as Magna Housing seeks to take possession of the property.

Magna took Shirley Fountain to the magistrates court in Taunton last month for unpaid rent, but the case was referred for civil proceedings to start.

Now, Mrs Fountain, aged 78, has to appear again on Tuesday, November 24, a month before Christmas.

She has been in dispute for the past four years with Magna over rent for her bungalow home in Pound Close, Brushford.

She has been withholding the ‘sheltered’ element of rent for her bungalow because she said she did not need the service, and even if she did, it was not readily available as there was not a warden living on site.

Mrs Fountain said: “There are 27 bungalows on the estate and some do not even have the alarms that are needed to call for help.

“The bungalows are not fit to live in.”

Mrs Fountain, who suffers from severe asthma, said the dispute had been making her ill and she was convinced Magna ‘just want me out’.

She said her home had been suffering from damp and mould and had an ancient heating system which was too expensive to run, meaning each year she had to go to live with her daughter for the coldest two months of the winter.

Mrs Fountain said after seven years of living in the property, Magna had finally acknowledged the damp and mould issues and had offered her compensation, of £100.

She said: “I am not accepting it, it is an insult.

“It is a rip-off.”

Magna said taking a tenant to court for a possession order was always a last resort and it remained willing to try to work with Mrs Fountain to agree a way forward and put in place the support she needed.