A PENSIONER has been left devastated after being told she had to give up her allotment.

Gina Nash, 69, moved to Harwich in 2019 and, having spent most of her time in the town in lockdown, she sought to make some new friends.

As a keen gardener, she was delighted to have secured a plot in February at the allotment which neighbours the Redoubt Fort. But what began as a hobby she loved soon became a battle against the town council.

Mrs Nash was given four-and-a-half months to turn around the site which her husband, Geoffrey, described as being severely overgrown, strewn with rubbish and plagued by weeds.

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Despite proof progress was being made, and the fact poor weather at the end of April pushed her efforts back, Mr Nash claims the council were determined to get his wife off the site.

She has now been left devastated after having the plot taken away.

Mr Nash, who is a driving instructor, said: “This was everything to her.

“It has seriously affected her, she can’t face going anywhere near that area now and as soon as the notice was issued it sent her into a period of depression – she feels lost.

“Gina has lost something she really loved, I can’t emphasise enough how happy she was when she was looking after that land. It’s almost like telling Mary Berry she’s not allowed near an oven.

“It has left a big emotional scar and has knocked her sideways.

“This was her wellbeing, her exercise, her reason to get up in the morning – she doesn’t know what to do anymore.”

Mr Nash added: “It was well on the way to meeting the council’s standards, but they still weren’t having any of it.”

Alan Todd, the chairman of Harwich Town Council’s allotment committee, said; “Harwich Town Council has over 200 allotment plots and it is not often that we have to terminate a tenancy.

“It is not something we like to do and only happens after repeated warnings have been given.

“Unfortunately, it is not always possible to reach a mutually agreeable outcome.”