WINCHESTER busker Frank Williams has lost his long-running battle to stay in his unauthorised dome home.

A planning inspector has rejected his appeal against enforcement notices from the city council ordering him off his camps by the Itchen Navigation off Garnier Road, St Cross, and Old Morestead Road.

Mr Williams is a well-known figure around Winchester, where he regularly plays his accordian in the High Street.

Inspector Howard Russon held a public inquiry on April 11. To claim squatters' rights, Mr Williams would have had to prove he had occupied the land for 12 years with the intention of excluding others.

Mr Russon said he accepted Mr Williams lived by the Itchen Navigation from 1992 to 2005 but said he did not occupy it exclusively as other people also lived there.

The land had not been fenced off or any attempt made to cultivate the land, said Mr Russon.

On the land at Old Morestead Road, Mr Russon said it was clear that Mr Williams had only been there since 2005.

Mr Russon said: "Mr Williams does not have an equitable interest in either the Garnier Road land or the land at Morestead Road. Consequently he does not have a right of appeal against the enforcement notices."

Mr Williams said he was not planning on moving and was considering appealing to the High Court, but he said he would need professional help.

He added: "The result was not very surprising. There might be a lawyer somewhere interested in taking the case on. The council has a bottomless pit of public money. I can't afford to pay a lawyer and I don't have the time to read law books or research case law."