An eco-gardener has promised a judge he will move off a city allotment site where he has been living for eight years.

Hilaire Purbrick was warned he would be jailed if he broke the undertaking and returned to the site.

But he is determined to continue his battle to win permission to live legally on the land on Whitehawk Hill in Brighton.

Mr Purbrick, 37, was first evicted by Brighton and Hove City Council in May last year following complaints from residents about noise, nuisance and aggressive behaviour.

He moved back in July claiming he was watchman for the site and was supported by local people.

The council is now taking action for trespass and seeking an injunction forcing him to move again.

A date for the case has not yet been set and Mr Purbrick agreed at a hearing at Brighton County Court to move out until the hearing.

He signed an undertaking promising to clear the land of his property by May 31. It includes a blue bus, a taxi and a trailer full of rubbish as well as his beehives.

District Judge Carlton Edwards warned him if he broke the undertaking he would be jailed for contempt of court.

After the hearing Mr Purbrick admitted he had nowhere to go and would have a struggle finding a new home for his beehives. His partner, Mary, and their two children, live in a flat nearby but he claims there is not enough room for him to move in with his family.

He said: "I am not giving up. To show goodwill I am giving a voluntary undertaking. I want to go back legally with the air clear."

Mr Purbrick, who represented himself in court, said he felt confident he would win in the end and be granted official permission to stay on the land. He claims there will be 23 witnesses giving evidence in support of him at the hearing, including local residents, allotment holders and dog walkers.

He said: "I have got absolute confidence that at the hearing the city council's case will be torn to shreds. It is a tissue to misunderstandings.

"The evidence is preposterous because it is a personal vendetta by officers of the city council against me because I have criticised them in the past and they have decided they don't like me.

"I have got the right to be there. Ownership of land is something that is not set in stone. If you can prove you can manage the land better than the local authority you can have a licence to do that.

"I don't enjoy being there without a legal right because everything I do is under threat."

Mr Purbrick claims he will be getting support in the future from a Russian prince.

He says Kolinka Zinovieff, a businessman who runs an organic essential oils company in London, is intending to move to Brighton where he will acting as patron to him.

Karl Heyman, the city council's grounds maintenance manager, welcomed the agreement for Mr Purbrick to move. He said: "Our view is that he is trespassing. We are pleased about the undertaking. It allows us to rent the allotments he has been occupying and manage the land, including the surrounding nature reserve."