PENSIONER Wilfred Lamb hit the headlines over the final years of his life after he became involved in a bizarre planning dispute.

He went on trial in 1998 accused of wiring the metal windows of his run-down Hartlebury home to the electrical mains and threatening to kill planning officials.

He was found not guilty of booby-trapping his home and of threatening to kill the officials who had visited his home, now worth an estimated £250,000, to give him a summons over a planning dispute.

The retired factory worker was put on probation for three years but promised "war" if Wychavon District Council made efforts to tear down the disputed outhouse he had erected without permission.

He had previously lost two planning appeals in six years to build on his 14-acre property.

"I'll knock the council offices down first before I knock it down," he said of his outhouse.

Court recorder Robin Onions told Lamb: "You are at the time of life when you should be enjoying retirement instead of being in conflict with the law."