A PENSIONER who lost a 10-year legal battle over her period cottage is facing an uncertain future after being made homeless.

Margaret Evans, 83, pleaded with High Court judges for a stay of execution at her home in Fishpond but was evicted by bailiffs.

Mrs Evans said: "I have asked the bailiff for an extension of time but he said he cannot do that.

"But he said he will give his permission for the estate agent to come up with me with the key to get everything out."

Mrs Evans has been forced to leave April Cottage after running up a massive £200,000 in legal fees, eventually declaring herself to be bankrupt.

Her turbulent ordeal started 10 years ago when she bought the cottage and decided to renovate it.

Mrs Evans disputed a bill for work she said had been botched, sparking a long-running dispute with builders, architects and solicitors.

Now she says she has been left disheartened.

"I am feeling absolutely desolate," she said.

"I had just lost the will to live. I am usually a very upbeat person but all I could think was where I was going to spend the next night. Nothing seemed worthwhile any more.

"It is just so unjust what has happened to me over the years. It is not only the money - it is the injustice of it."

Once her house is sold and the legal bill paid off, Mrs Evans will receive the difference.

Until then, the 83-year-old widow will spend a week in a hotel before finding somewhere to rent.

"I spoke to the housing manager who said they would offer me a bed and breakfast in Weymouth, which sounded a bit grim," she said. "The only thing long term would be to go into sheltered housing but they are very few and far between.

"So what I have arranged to do is to stay for a week in Charmouth and I shall then look around and see if I can get something for about £400 a month and hang on like that until I get the money for the house."

A friend will store her furniture, while her cats will stay with one of her daughters.

"That is a load off my mind," she said.

The ordeal has left Mrs Evans feeling let down by the justice system, but she isn't about to sit back and let others go through the same.

"I shall go on fighting this," she said. "I am not the only person that has been let down by the system.

"Whether I do it from a tent in the back garden or from my own place, I shall go on.

"I would like to encourage people, instead of sitting in the pub or at home grumbling about the law, to lobby their MP and say they are not happy about this.

"We need a decent civil legal system in this country."