A woman who has been fighting for 25 years to avoid eviction from her £3million castle over a £230 debt has lost her bid to take the case to the Supreme Court.
Marian van Overwaele, 71, had refused to pay a bill relating to a bridalwear business she ran in 1997 - with her debt later rising to £30,000.
The former businesswoman was subsequently made bankrupt in 2000 and has spent the last two decades appealing attempts to have her removed from from Knockderry Castle, in Cove, Argyll.
Mrs van Overwaele transferred ownership of the mult-million pound mansion to her brother George Amil and has continued to live there with him.
But trustees are trying to evict the family so the castle can be sold off to pay creditors.
In September 2010, sheriff officers and police arrived to evict Mrs van Overwaele after costs related to her bankruptcy spiralling to £160,000.
However, the pensioner appealed the eviction notice and was given more time to pay.
Judges at the Court Of Session upheld an earlier decision last July to allow the bankruptcy trustee, George Lafferty, go ahead with the eviction.
The law lords ruled against Mrs van Overwaele and her brother because the pair failed to attend court without proper excuse.
They had claimed they were unwell, but this was not accepted by the court, with the pair going on to appeal the ruling.
But Mrs van Overwaele has now been denied permission by the Court of Session to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court in London.
Speaking previously about the case, she said: "The original bill had nothing to do with me in the first place.
"This house now belongs to my brother and my family have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds lovingly restoring it.
"This is my home but I am very worried that the house will be taken.
"I am 45 years in Scotland now, my life is here. It has affected me very badly and I don't want to cry - I have cried enough.
"Sometimes I wake during the night and pray, 'Please let this be a dream, or a nightmare and not a true story'."
