"I want £1 million to move out of my house"

The protesting pensioner’s feud with Rotherham Borough Council began in 1999 when the authority tried to buy his property - then part of a terrace - to build a bus lane.

He won a public inquiry to fight off a compulsory purchase order but insists the stress contributed to the death of wife Barbara in 2007.

Mr Newey said RMBC visited him to request sending an official to value the property, which now stands alone on Doncaster Road, Dalton.

He said: “The council came to see me last Thursday. They are after my front garden and after my house again.

“They want to send someone to look at the house and work out its price. 

“They said if I don’t agree to it, they are going to send me another compulsory purchase order.

“It came out of the blue. They sent me a letter saying they wanted to come round last week. They say they want to widen the road, which was originally what they wanted.”

He added: “Aren’t they rotten cows? I had seven years of stress over this and never got a penny compensation. 

“This has got my daughter going mad again.

“I shall tell them I don’t want him to price up the house when they come. I want £500,000 which they should owe me for seven years’ stress. It was nasty.

“And then I want another half a million for the house and the land. It’s no good me moving now, so that’s my minimum. I think I’ll be looking for a solicitor now.”

Mr Newey, a retired electrician, born on nearby Osberton Street and has been at his current address for about 40 years.

His hand-painted placards - and an advertisement for his son’s carpet business - have landed him with numerous court appearances and fines.

In 2012 he put up a for sale sign and said he fancied moving to Wentworth because the beer there was better.

A council spokeswoman confirmed that the authority had contacted Mr Newey.