A SOUTHAMPTON man who faces eviction from his messy allotment is pleading with the council for one last chance to tidy up his act - and his overgrown plants.

Steven Farmer, 57, who lives in Thornhill, is facing eviction from his Muddy Bottom allotment on Bursledon Road after Southampton City Council served him a 30-day notice period because his three plots had become too wild.

However, the Argos delivery driver has only recently returned to his allotment of 15 years - for which he pays £185 a year - after a three-year mental health struggle and is hoping the council will reconsider before he's turfed off on June 24.

He told The Daily Echo: “I don’t blame the council; I just want them to see a bit of common sense. I’m willing to give up two of my three plots – all I want to do is keep the middle one.

“I’ve paid for my plot every year, which goes to show I must have some heart in it. It’s in my blood, I love gardening and I lost interest because of my mental health."

Steven said he had been staying in Antelope House, a mental health clinic, three times in recent years on his wife's request after he 'lost the plot' and was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

But in the last two years, and since changing his job from being a HGV driver, life is 'a lot quieter' and his mental health has continued to improve.

He said: "My job gives me more time to myself and my wife. Things just got on top of me and destroyed me."

Pleading for the council 'to see sense', he said: "I’m not trying to fight them, I’m not trying to disregard what they say, but I just want them to give me a last chance to prove myself because I’ve been down here for so long and I’ve never done anything wrong before. It’s been a part of my life and we have a nice community.”

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Daily Echo:

Steven, who claimed he had never been in trouble with the council before, added: “I’m not trying to whittle away from the fact I’ve let it get overgrown because I have.

“It breaks my heart to see it like this, but I want to do something about it. The council have told me once I’m evicted, I can reapply… but I’m already here.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Southampton City Council told The Echo that there are 6,000 people on the waiting list for one of the city's 1,850 plots and that for some of the 28 allotment sites in Southampton, this means a wait of up to 20 years.

They said: “SCC takes into consideration health issues and extenuating circumstances if known, in respect of a person’s ability to cultivate a plot prior to issuing a notice to quit.

"However, where these conditions continue long term and plots remain uncultivated, it is unfair on the large numbers of residents on the waiting list, who are essentially being blocked from taking on a plot and cultivating it.”