A COUNCILLOR has stepped in to help residents find out who has installed a mystery new fence on deserted land in Acomb, York.

Residents in Runswick Avenue contacted Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing about the grassed area near to the junction with Beckfield Lane, where a fence has recently appeared. People approaching the workmen putting up the fence were told developers Hogg The Builder had commissioned the fence.

Coun Simpson-Laing said residents were confused as they had thought the land belonged to the City of York Council. She said: "I asked council officers to look into the matter, and it seems that after looking at both their records and those of the Land Registry, that no one is registered as owning the land. Officers have informed me that if Hogg The Builder were responsible for putting the fence up around the piece of grass, from an enforcement angle' there is nothing that can be done to stop this action.

"I have also been informed that an inquiry has been made from a firm of solicitors checking on the land at the back of addresses in Beckfield Lane."

She said residents were worried about rumours that houses were going to be built on the land.