A pensioner is facing eviction from a house he has lived in for 60 years after being told his rent would jump from less than £100-a-month to £1,200.

Retired Richard Wellsberg has lived in his home in Haw Lane, Saunderton, since he was a child and faces being evicted after he refused to pay the almost 1,200 per cent increase.

Mr Wellsberg has been paying £95 a month for the property since 1993 but says since it was sold at an auction to another developer, his rent has gone up to £1,200 a month, which he has branded “a travesty”.

He claims he did not sign any paperwork or an updated tenancy agreement to “agree” to the rise, saying: “It has been a total nightmare after 60 years. I haven’t signed anything so they are not within their rights to demand money from me.

“You shouldn’t have to go through this in old age.”

The original tenancy agreement was under his parents’ name, after his father took it on in 1968.

Harold Benjamin, solicitors for landlords Wexton Estates who the property was sold to, deny any wrongdoing and say Mr Wellsberg was sent the appropriate paperwork informing him the rent would be increasing, taking all the appropriate avenues to let him know, and the case was heard at a tribunal where Mr Wellsberg was present with his solicitor.

They said when Mr Wellsberg received the letter, he refused to pay the increased rent and so they were forced to take matters to court and issue an eviction notice, and added that the increase in rent was the “appropriate” amount to be charged for the property in line with the current rental market.

Mr Wellsberg says he has now paid £5,000 of the outstanding debt of around £7,100 and the rest will be paid through debt management.

He said he will continue to fight.

The move comes as the village prepares for the potential for more than 200 homes to be built on the former Molins site near Mr Wellsberg’s property.

A planning battle is ongoing over the future of the site following years of debate between developers and the council.

The inspector of the Molins Appeal has been asked to prepare a report and recommendation, which will be forwarded to the secretary of state for communities and local government, Sajid Javid, who will determine the appeal, according to the Save Saunderton AONB campaign group.