Pensioners claim squatters rights over bowling green

Pensioners fighting to save their bowls club have claimed squatters' rights on the green they have used for 23 years.

Players at the Hales Bowls Club, in Norfolk, want to prevent a developer building new homes on the site.

The club has lodged a claim with the Land Registry for "adverse possession", an argument usually used by squatters occupying a property.



The bowling green is in the grounds of the Garden House pub in Hales, owned by Cripps Developments, of Beccles.

Club chairman Joe Rochard, 65, said: "We're claiming adverse possession of the land because we've played on it regularly for the last 23 years.

"We know someone who works for a law firm and he suggested it."