A BITTER feud between Hollywood director Tim Burton and Oxfordshire villagers 'could take years to resolve'.

The multi-millionaire faced a revolt by residents of Sutton Courtenay after he erected a seven-foot wooden fence in his swanky Grade II-listed home.

For generations residents had enjoyed unrestricted access to the river Thames via the islands that join the weirs but the 130 foot-long wooden structure that appeared out of the blue is now in the way.

Some villagers 'furious' with the fence even went to the lengths of to fly-tip his two-million 18th-century Mill House, off Appleford Road.

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People also made formal complaints to Vale of White Horse District Council in the beginning of July and the local authority launched an investigation into the legality of the built that is still ongoing.

Speaking about the conflict Sutton Courtenay Paris councillor Richard Webber admitted 'there is no quick solution' and added: "I have considered carefully how I could help and have come to the following conclusions.

"Given the potential consequences of legal confrontation, that it might take years to resolve and the only certain beneficiaries would be lawyers and one side only, this route should be avoided.

"The best chance of a satisfactory outcome for everyone is to be patient, reasonable and polite.

"I have written to the landowner a letter which includes an apology for the behaviour of a small minority of irresponsible people who have left litter and displayed some antisocial behaviour – this is an undeniable fact.

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"Any other approach, is likely to be counterproductive.

Mr Webber also suggested that a 'cooling off' period is also needed.

He added: "We need to negotiate a solution for the future involving restoring some limited public access."