A DEVASTATED couple will have to get rid of their beloved horses, chickens and ducks after the council hiked up the rent on their grazing land from £300 a year to more than £2000.
Jackie Whitfield and partner John Chappell, 68, have leased the one-and-a-half acre plot behind their home on Higham Common Road, Higham, for 14 years.
They use the grazing land for their two horses - a 20-year-old pony and an ex-race horse which they rescued - along with chickens and ducks.
Last Friday, the couple received a letter from the council that has dealt them a unexpected financial blow - officials want to put their annual rent up from £300 to £2,250.
Read more in this weeks Barnsley Chronicle
