Houseboat owners facing an eviction order from their moorings on an East Yorkshire waterway have gone to a public inquiry to launch their appeal to stay.

Planners say the houseboat owners on Driffield Canal at Hempholme, near Brandesburton, are in breach of planning guidelines.

East Riding Council served eviction orders on two owners because they are living on boats without planning consent.

A three-day public inquiry, chaired by a planning inspector, is now underway at Bridlington Town Hall to hear the appeal.

Two couples, who have had their boats moored on the waterway since 2003 and pay council tax of almost £1,000 per year, are appearing at the inquiry.

Dennis Norris, 41, and his partner Andrea Gayton, 43, are both lorry drivers and live on a 1927 boat, Raleigh.

Retired couple Gordon Taylor, 65, and his wife Eileen, 66, live on the Mary Grace.

Mr Norris told the Mail he and his partner have had to take out a loan to fight the legal battle.

He claimed the stress is pushing them to breaking point.

He said: "We are just hard working people struggling to keep our roof above our heads without this hassle.

"I can't make head nor tale of it.

"We pay council tax but the council say we need planning permission."

Mr Norris and his partner are long distance lorry drivers and are not on the boat all the time.

He said: "It's absolutely ridiculous.

"At the end of the day if I move the boat the council will lost £1,000 council tax and push the problem somewhere else, that's the thing I can't understand.

"It's terrible how someone at the council has got a bee in their bonnet and can do this."

Mr Taylor told the Mail that although the moorings are his address it is not permanent because he and his wife cruise around the inland waterways network.

He said: "We have been away for four months but we are going back next week.

"What the council have said is I should move my boat from the navigation.

"My argument is I don't think they have a right to tell me where I can live.

"There are no rules to say I have got to move my boat.

"I move it on a regular basis so I don't think I need planning permission for that reason."

A council spokesman told the Mail: "The people concerned are living in boats on the canal which require planning consent.

"The council has a policy objection to what is effectively a new dwelling in the countryside and is not likely to give consent for this change of use."

The inquiry is likely to finish tomorrow, with a decision expected within about six weeks.