A FORMER North Lancashire woman who used money from her murdered mother's estate to buy a Scottish Highlands hotel has been evicted from the property.

Louise Hodgson suffered heartbreak in 2000 when her mother Shirley Reghelini was stabbed by her estranged husband, Gilbert Edwin Reghelini, formerly of Sunnybank Road, Bolton-le-Sands, at a property in Lancaster. Mr Reghelini was jailed for life at Preston Crown Court for the killing.

Ms Hodgson, a former science teacher, was evicted from the 19-bedroomed Glen Affric Hotel, which she bought for £120,000, by Sheriff Officers with the police in attendance along with a representative from the Cats’ Protection League and the Scottish Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals.

Forty-four semi-feral cats were found in the attic of the property.

Half an hour later, as builders were boarding up the building, 51-year-old Ms Hodgson was settling into her new home – a green two person tent which she erected in a wood less than 100 yards from the former hotel which she called home for 13 years.

“I’m staying here to continue my fight to get my home back”, she said defiantly. “I’m not going into council accommodation or going on benefits. I can work and look after myself without having to rely on handouts from the Government”.

The bizarre scenario was acted out in the picturesque village of Cannich situated at the southern end of Strathglass about 26 miles west of the city of Inverness.

Two Sheriff Officers and two policemen arrived to evict her and ten minutes later Ms Hodgson was out. The S.S.P.C.A. were satisfied that the feral cats in the attic were in good health and the Cat Protection League were assured a “catflap” would be installed to make certain no animals were boarded in only to starve to death.

Ms Hodgson had lived in the building for the last eight years after being sequestrated for unpaid debts with her estate in trust to the The Accountant in Bankruptcy, the government organisation which administers personal bankruptcy and recorded corporate insolvencies in Scotland.

Last month a decree to eject Ms Hodgson was granted at Inverness Sheriff Court.

When she bought the hotel she dreamed of the good life and of a self-help community and making the old building more energy efficient.

After the good life crumbled and she was evicted last Wednesday, she said: “ I am a victim of legal bureaucracy. It should never have come to this. There was a dispute at the beginning over how much I owed in business rates. I had the money to pay it then. It’s gone on and on and now it’s come to this. They say I owe about £80,000”.

However, she refuses to admit defeat and after her eviction she wheeled her tent, sleeping bag and cooker in a wheelbarrow to the Catholics’ Wood by the side of the river she said: “ I’ve got legal aid. I just don’t have a legal aid solicitor. What I need is a Perry Mason who can stand up to and fight the legal establishment. I’m heartbroken at losing my home but I am trying not to let them see that. I wept in private a few days ago. Now I must continue the fight to get my home back.”