A woman who won a three- year battle to restore her hilltop croft is planning to sell up.

Sue Woodcock was given permission to refurbish her ancient farmhouse home at Mire House, Yarnbury, near Grassington, by a planning appeal inspector in 2007.

The cottage has no mains water, gas, electricity or sewerage.

But the decision was not “cut and dried” as Yorkshire Dales National Park bosses at the time believed she could repair it but not live there.

Now the saga has been brought to an end, with the granting of a certificate of lawfulness, which gives the croft status as a dwellinghouse.

“I need that in order to sell the house,” said the 62-year-old former police officer who gets her water from a well and generates her own electricity.

She said she already had two families interested in buying the croft, where she keeps five dogs, seven chickens, two cats and four sheep, “I don’t want to move from the area but realistically may have to. I think it will be the spring before I have to make a decision.

“It may be time for me to move to a different area and start afresh.

“I now need to be in hailing distance of civilisation. I’m getting on and need to be near a bus route.

“But I’ll need some land for my animals.”

A spokesman for the national park said: “The authority has granted the certificate of lawfulness on the basis that the building has been used continuously as a dwelling house for four years prior to the application and, as such, is lawful.”