Southampton City Council have revealed the cost of reclaiming more than 350 square metres of the Common they say have been swallowed up...

IT measures around 326 acres of woodland, wetland, grassland and open water and supports a huge variety of wildlife.

But in the last 100 years Southampton Common has been slowly eaten into by homeowners dotted along the boundary.

It is thought that around 350 square metres of the Common have been swallowed up by the extended back gardens of residents in Highfield, Burgess Road and Northlands Road.

Now city chiefs are set to grab the land back.

Today the Daily Echo can reveal it could take more than 13 years and cost more than £200,000 to reclaim the lost Common land.

Southampton City Council plans to write to all landowners who have encroached on to the protected land and put a four-foot fence around the entire Common.

The letters alone will cost the council more than £1,000.

A council spokesman said based on a cost of £1,200 for 50 metres of fencing, the two miles of fencing needed would total a bill of £77,000.

But the cost of site clearance, bank reinstatement and agreements reached with local people means the price could rise to £3,000 per 50 metres, more than doubling the total cost to £192,500.

If residents decide to fight the council then legal costs will ensue, and council officers estimate each case will rack up a £9,000 bill - and officers are unable to say how many cases may be needed.

The council spokesman said: "It is impossible to say how much it will cost until things start happening. We can only work with the facts at the moment."

Cash for the Common battle will come from the council's existing budget and only £15,000 per year will be made available.

This means it could take 13 years to fence the entire Common off, barring any unexpected costs.

"It's not going to happen overnight," the council spokesman said.

Meanwhile people living in Northlands Gardens who used to pay the council a token sum of one shilling to get on to the Common are coming under fire from city bosses who are questioning the legality of their access rights.

Other residents living in Hill Lane are due to be told that there are "encroachments" through their gardens on to the Common although they are not regarded as serious.

Residents in the area have told the Daily Echo they plan to fight any council plans to stop them getting on to the Common.

On Tuesday, we reported how Northlands Gardens resident Barry Tebb, whose home backs on to the Common, said the council hadn't written to him saying access should be refused.

And one Hill Lane resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "I have a deed which gives me access to the Common. I am not encroaching. The entrance is the council's."

However, Southampton city councillor Terence Matthews, who represents the Shirley ward, has warned that the council will pursue the issue through the courts if necessary.

"We will do whatever it takes. We want the Common back where it should be," he said. "We should not have this encroachment."

He added: "We will endeavour to take people to court to pursue this issue."

Peter Wirgman, of the Southampton Federation of Residents' Associations, said he was backing the council on its move to protect the Common.

"If they are trying to preserve open space, which seems a bit of a reversal of roles for the council, I am all for it," he said.

Council officers have said previous attempts to resolve the issue in a 'piecemeal' fashion have failed, and that by doing nothing to protect the Common the council is not fulfilling its land management responsibilities.