West Watford allotment holders have vowed to take their fight to save the Farm Terrace site "all the way" even if they lose their High Court battle.

Sara Jane Trebar, spokesman for tenants of the under threat site, said plot-holders were willing to tie themselves to the rails to prevent bulldozers moving in on the allotments.

Her comments were aired on BBC 1’s The One Show last night and come as the allotment-holders await the decision of a High Court judge on the plots

Last month campaigners took the decision by Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, to allow the allotments to be built over as part of the health campus to judicial review.

Mr Justice Ouseley is expected to return his decision in the coming weeks.

Speaking on the programme, Mrs Trebar said: "Obviously we hope we win the court case. But if we don't we will take it all the way. We will tie ourselves to those rails and stop the bulldozers going in. If they think this is a big fight now they haven't seen anything yet."

Mrs Trebar also outlined the reason the allotment holders were fighting so hard to preserve the 118-year-old allotments.

Watford Observer:

Sara Jane Trebar

She added: "Originally they said they needed the land for a new hospital and of course we were not going to oppose that, because we understand the need of hospital facilities.

"But it soon became apparent that what they were actually going you build on the land was flats and houses and also a car park in particular. We wanted to fight it every step of the way.
The housing estate is still viable - they don't need to use the allotments."

During the programme, The One Show reporter Lucy Siegle interviewed Farm Terrace allotment-holders and visited the site of alternative plots they are being offer in Paddock Road, Oxhey.

Elected mayor Dorothy Thornhill was also interviewed and defended the plans to include the allotment land in the health campus scheme, which aims to regenerate the land behind Vicarage Road with around 750 new homes and businesses. The plans would also leave space for an expansion of Watford General Hospital.

Watford Observer:

Mayor Dorothy Thornhill being interviewed by The One Show reporter Lucy Siegle

Mayor Thornhill said: "The hospital, the jobs and the homes have always been a part of the planning. I think of this as a big chess board and in order to get all the pieces on the board we might move some things round. 

"So yes it may be a car park on the allotments, it may be 70 family houses. With the allotments out it gives us a blank canvas for the whole of the site. We have just got to move on and get on with turning this into something that is fit for people to live in and not this blot on the landscape that it is now."