Say no Moor! Bojo’s dad hails green victory in farming row

THAT’S one way to solve an argument! Stanley Johnson has been involved in a bitter feud with his next-door neighbour for years, but I can reveal that the Prime Minister’s father has finally ended the dispute — by buying his property.

Now, Stanley never has to see his foe, who branded him a ‘truly unpleasant character’, ever again.

From his 500-acre farm in the stunning Exmoor National Park, the 81-year-old looked with disgust at the bare, barren hills farmed by his neighbour, Mark Andrews, and wished that they could, like his, be re-forested with trees.

He launched a complaint with the local council and Exmoor National Park over Andrews’ use of the area, arguing that as it used to be common land, the fences his neighbour erected should be taken down.

His neighbour strongly denied that he had done anything untoward. Mr Andrews said: ‘The fencing is not illegal. It was put up by the former owners of the farm decades before we [purchased] it in 2008.

‘We have not cut down a single tree on it since we owned it.’

He went on to criticise his neighbour, saying: ‘Stanley Johnson knows nothing about farming and has never done a day’s real farming in his life. His petulant rant just goes to show what a truly unpleasant character he is.’

Happily for Stanley, he’s now the proud owner of the disputed 127acre plot, and plans to plant trees on it alongside a charity he’s enlisted for help.

But he complains he did not get a discount from Mr Andrews for the land, sighing: ‘I paid full whack in the end, which was rather painful, but there you go. It’s important it is restored for nature, so I did it.’

The author and former MEP tells me he is pleased the disagreement is finally over, but wails: ‘He was rather nasty about me, said that I hadn’t done a day’s farming in my life, which is not true at all. I have castrated sheep, done it all. It’s outrageous.’

Thank goodness these two never have to glare at each other across the Exmoor hills ever again.