by Gary Wright

SEMI-retired businessman John Button is celebrating today after winning the right to keep ramblers off derelict land at Capel le Ferne for at least another two months.

Mr Button, 71, bought a stretch of land alongside the existing Battle of Britain Memorial site five years ago at auction for just over £140,000.

It is the site of a Second World War hospital and huge gun emplacement, criss-crossed with underground

tunnels and rooms, which he has spent the past four years unearthing.

But ramblers protested after he fenced off the site and today (January 31) he found himself before Folkestone Magistrates Court after Kent County Council said he had failed to restore public access.

"The site was derelict, used for fly tipping, off road motorcycling an people lit fires there - it was

neglected," Mr Button told Folkestone magistrates.

KCC brought the case to court in the first case of its kind since the Countryside and Rights of Way Act was introduced in 2000.

The land is designated Access Land and two attempts by KCC to install gateways through his fencing last year resulted in them being blocked by Mr Button's restoration workers.

The court heard that KCC and Mr Button, who was accompanied in court by his son Martin Button, managing director of UK Vending Ltd in Rochester, agreed the land should be open to the public.

But Mr Button said the danger of people falling into tunnels that are 70 years old meant fencing made the area safe.

And magistrates agreed ruling that KCC is right to enforce the law but granted Mr Button 60 days to work with Natural England, which is responsible for and designated the site Access Land in 2004.

After the case, his son Martin said: "This is a common sense ruling and there was never any need for this to come to court.

"My father's intention has always been to restore the site and then open it to visitors alongside the Battle of Britain Memorial site."

He said his father has a passion for British military memorabilia.

"Over the past half century, he has purchased

and refurbished dozens of otherwise lost military broadcast radios, motorbikes, jeeps, troop-transporters, planes and boats, radio vehicles, etc.

"He and his technical staff have

rebuilt most of these items and my father tours them around Europe at his own cost so as to share them and their respective histories with the world at large. "My father purchased and rebuilt one of the last five flight simulators in which many of the Battle of Britain pilots may have learned to fly.

"This is presently the only one of these machines that still works and is housed in its

own display room within his business.

"Enthusiasts and historians from around the world come and visit and research this item and the others in the collection.

"It is his intention that after his passing, these items will go to the greater good."

After the case Mr Button, who has spend £60,000 on work so far, said: "This site is my retirement hobby. I am pleased that magistrates saw sense and we will work with the authorities to ensure the future safety of the site."

Mr Button intends to continue trying to unearth the history of the site that is contained within the

underground hospital, the buildings on site and the gun emplacements buried beneath the land.

His staff four staff and other enthusiasts have commenced uncovering the deep gun emplacements that once helped protect Britain from the

Nazi planes and ships.

He believes it will take about two more years to properly research and preserve the property and it's history.

Outside a group of around 12 ramblers said they were pleased with the verdict but would continue to monitor the future of the site.