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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Kieran Isgin

Mum in 'last house standing' describes life on abandoned village street

A mum has spoken about living in the "last house standing" on an abandoned street in North Yorkshire.

The woman said she felt "uneasy" after 19 other families left their homes on the "ghost" village over the past 12 months.

By December, she said nobody was left apart from her family in Linton-on-Ouse, near York.

READ MORE: The abandoned villages near Greater Manchester that lie completely underwater

The mum-of-two, who didn't want to be named, told YorkshireLive: "We were the last house standing,

"For about a month we were the last property there. It wasn't very nice."

The mass exodus was triggered after the Ministry of Defence left the RAF base nearby.

The village's 84-year relationship with the Armed Forces ended after operations stopped at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, where they had been based since 1937.

While the 160 homes in the village are sub-let by the MoD from Annington Homes Ltd, they are now in the process of being handed back to the housing management company.

All tenants were served an eviction notice with a deadline by the end of the year.

Local residents have referred to the area as ghost town (Peter Harbour)

Some residents have said the village now feels like "a ghost town" while the last few months were filled with concerns while contractors carried out checks and repairs on the empty properties.

"We were the last ones to leave the little cul-de-sac in Linton Meadow," said the woman.

"I felt like the man in the film Up where he stayed in his house and all this building was going on around him.

"There were so many contractors doing things to houses.

"It did feel very uneasy, I have to say."

While the family wanted to stay in the home, they had to leave while the properties get transferred back to Annington Homes Ltd - and won't be resolved until February 9, 2022.

"I really have to say September, October, November was a real unsettled time," said the mum-of-two. "It wasn't pleasant at all.

The now-abandoned RAF base at Linton-on-Ouse (Peter Harbour - Yorkshire Live)

"It was really upsetting to be honest, because there was so much uncertainty.

"I don't want to move the children's school. We've got medical care - both for myself and my daughter - at the local hospital, so we didn't want to move."

The family has now been transferred to another property less than 100 metres after pleading with the MoD to let them stay in the village.

While they want to stay in Linton-on-Ouse permanently, they've only garnered another year in their new home which will eventually be given back to Annington Homes Ltd.

The family has only another year to stay in the area (Peter Harbour - Yorkshire Live)

The woman said: "We want to settle.

"One of these properties would be a perfect choice for us really.

"We've got friends in the village and it's not far for me to commute to work.

"My husband actually went direct to Annington and said: ‘To save us moving, can we buy the property from yourselves?’.

"They just said we can't.

"I just want them to be a little bit more open. Treat us like humans. We all have feelings."

The MoD has confirmed that all properties on Linton Meadow will be transferred back to Annington Homes Ltd by February 9, 2022.

While this applies to the 56 properties on Linton Meadow, the other 104 homes, which includes 84 on the military base itself, still have an uncertain future while they remain empty for 12 months.

Mark Goddard, chair of the village's parish council said the lack of clarity has been "very unsettling" for the village.

Davinia Pearson, the school's headteacher, branded the empty homes "a waste" after primary school numbers fall by almost a half.

"We need to plan for the future and the coming months," she said.

"Should these houses become populated, we want to be able to accommodate children in the village school."

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