Doc Martin actor Martin Clunes has experienced a huge setback with neighbours who have built a traveller site 300 yards next to his Dorset Farm. The 63-year-old bought Meerhay Farm near Beaminster, Dorset, in 2007 alongside his wife, Philippa Braithwaite. It is reported that the star has been battling New Age Travellers Theo Langton and Ruth McGill for two years, who have set up their static caravan 300 yards away from Martin's £5 million farmhouse. However, experts have now confirmed that the Travellers live in a "mobile home" and have been on the land for more than 20 years.

According to The Sun, Martin Clunes sent an email to the local planning authority, challenging the notion that the current habitation qualifies as a mobile home. He calls planning permission for continued use of the land "cynical and dishonest." The pair reportedly include in their plans the use of the erected barn as a dayroom, workshop and store and a touring caravan.

Mr. Clunes' barrister has also criticised the couple, claiming they fail to prove they make a living traveling. The pair are required under planning law to leave their main base to travel for their livelihood. The duo have since claimed that they go to different festivals and fairs during the summer to sell hand-made products.

In a recent blow to Martin, a document uploaded to the Dorset County Council planning portal unveils engineers assessed how the home 'could be moved.' He strongly disagreed with the statement in a previous report.

Clunes stated, "The current guidelines are useful in that they state that a structure to be considered a mobile home must arrive at its site in no more than two pieces and in this way demonstrate some level of mobility. The building arrived in hundreds of pieces and took weeks to build and that is what makes it a building."

"It is my belief that this building lacks any ability to be mobile and was not constructed with any intention of mobility, and to describe it as a mobile home is cynical and dishonest," he added.

Following Martin's complaints, a new report carried out by Penpole Engineering stated: "The overall dimensions of the mobile home are approximately 40ft in length with a width of 15ft.

"An earlier letter from Penpole Engineering Limited to the Clients, Theo and Ruth Langdon concluded that the mobile home is capable of being split into two sections down its long dimension and lifted to a typical articulated trailer.

"This desk study demonstrates that the mobile home could be lifted in one piece. [...] Services would be required to be disconnected from the unit prior to lift. Initial calculations, based on site visit, have been undertaken both for lifting the structure as a whole and in two separate parts. [...] In order to be lifted, the mobile home would require removal of all internal loose contents, and separate furniture. Fixed furniture for example kitchen units may remain."

Theo and Ruth currently live without electricity or running water. The couple wish to make their mobile home a permanent site with two additional spaces for mobile homes. The definition for a mobile home is that a structure could be divided into two parts and picked up and moved on the back of a 40ft trailer.