A former owner of a Radley lake told an inquiry yesterday that he kicked people out of the area dozens of times.

Charles Dockar-Drysdale, who owned the land from 1972 to 1997, was called as a witness by RWE npower to rebut campaigners' claims that the area was one of recreation.

Protest group Save Radley Lakes is trying to win town/village green status for Thrupp and Bullfield Lakes to halt the company's plans to fill the former with spent fuel ash from Didcot Power Station.

Applicant Jo Cartmell, of Save Radley Lakes, must prove that the land has been used by the public for recreational purposes 'as of right' for 20 years.

Thirty-five witnesses have so far given evidence to the inquiry to argue that people have used the lakes for boating, canoeing, jet-skiing, swimming, bird watching, angling and walking.

Yesterday - the second day of the resumed inquiry - Mr Dockar-Drysdale said he discouraged the public from swimming in his lake "rigorously and actively" with fences.

But he allowed private angling and a jet-ski club for a number of years under his supervision.

Mr Dockar-Drysdale said: "Thrupp Lake was our back garden. I objected to people intruding upon it. We had a ban on public swimming in the lake. It was an ongoing thing since we moved into our house in 1981."

He told the inquiry that he erected fences on the east and north sides of his lake to warn people it was private property. But he agreed the eastern fence was put up in a haphazard and unworkmanlike way.

Save Radley Lakes lawyer Philip Petchey argued the public could have had unrestricted access if the fence was broken and not mended.

Mr Petchey said: "It has been indicated that the fence was in disrepair."

He also pointed out that Mr Dockar-Drysdale's fence was not marked on an Ordnance Survey map from 1990.

The inquiry is due to finish today and planning inspector Vivian Chapman will send his report to Oxfordshire County Council to rule on the application.

The company already has permission to dump spent fuel ash in Thrupp Lake.