A teacher's ten-year project to restore a Twenties yacht is in tatters after his eviction from a marina.

Dennis Doherty, 48, bought the twin-screw diesel yacht called Lita for £10,000 in 1995 from Brighton Marina Moorings, the previous owners of Brighton Marina.

When Premier Marinas took over the berths in 2000, the company asked Mr Doherty to speed up the restoration project.

The company increased its rental charge for space in the boatyard from £225 a month to £585 a month in 2001 but Mr Doherty refused to pay the higher rate.

He was sent a bill for £35,000 and the case was settled out of court. Mr Doherty, from Twickenham, London, agreed to settle the bill at the old rate and remove the boat by tomorrow. He plans to moor it at Shoreham Harbour.

He has accused Premier Marina of damaging the boat after the company attempted to lower Lita into the high tide using a hoist.

There was no high tide and the hoist broke, leaving the vessel suspended in the air for 18 hours.

He has also insisted there was an agreement with Brighton Marina Moorings that he could keep the vessel in the boatyard at the old rate until the restoration project was complete.

Mr Doherty said: "When Premier took over, they started hassling me to remove the boat and I refused. The project has dragged on for longer than I wanted but it has been a nightmare. Someone had abandoned that boat after owing a huge amount of marine fees. If I hadn't bought it, it would probably have been cut up because it was sinking."

Premier Marinas has told Mr Doherty it will cost £650 to lift the vessel if he wants a damage assessment so he has refused.

Manager Andrew Collumbell said: "A pricing review on storage was made for all customers.

"It was not targeted at Lita. We are a very large marina with many boats but very few spaces in the boatyard.

"To give all our customers a fair chance to be out of the water, we told them they could have eight weeks a year in the boatyard totally free for maintenance and after that time the price would be £1 per metre a day.

"There came a point when we had to draw a line in the sand. We don't think the boat has been damaged. If he can prove otherwise, he would have a very good case against us."