Ref. 25209-07A FORMER heavyweight boxer has been dealt a knockout blow after one of his bitterest fights yet.

Eddie Neilson, who was only defeated seven times in 40 fights, has lost a hard fought bout with Wiltshire County Council.

The council's legal team got the winning punch at Devizes Magistrates Court when it successfully prosecuted Neilson for obstructing a public footpath that runs across his land.

He was ordered to pay more than £8,000 in costs after refusing to remove a builders' security fence, held in place with barbed wire, which had been blocking a footpath running across land at Sparswell Farm, Purton.

In round one of the dispute, which is believed to have lasted for more than a year, the county council began sparring with Neilson after receiving complaints from residents and Purton Parish Council.

Hard jabbing began in the second round with a stiff uppercut from the authority, which served the landowner with a formal notice for refusing to remove the obstruction.

Several more rounds of negotiations followed but in spite of it being a fierce battle, the county council was confident it was going to be the victor after starting legal proceedings.

And Richard Broadhead, the council's rights of way manager, who helped ensure Neilson went out for the count, said he was pleased with the win.

"It shows that we will take enforcement action if it proves necessary," he said.

"However, I am disappointed that it had to go this far and couldn't be settled earlier.

"Prosecution is always a last resort. Where possible we try to work with the landowner to resolve any disputes. If landowners have any problems with rights of way over their land they should contact us and work with us to sort the problems out."

Under the Highway Act 1980 the county council has a duty to protect the public's right of free roaming along the rights of way network.

Neilson, who has also been ordered to remove the blockage, refused to comment when approached by the Adver at his home.

He turned professional in 1971 after a five-year amateur career and, for the next 12 years, before retiring in 1983, he was in the top flight of British heavyweight boxers, without ever fighting for the British title.

His professional career spanned 40 fights, including 33 wins 31 by knockout.

Neilson will be best remembered for two fights against Britain's 'Big Two', Joe Bugner and Frank Bruno.

Parish council chairman Godfrey Fowler said the blockage had been removed twice and replaced. "I hope this matter is resolved, I think it has gone so far. We have a duty to keep footpaths open and we try to talk to people and be reasonable but this time it ended up in court and the cost to Mr Neilson was a fair amount, which is a pity."

From heavyweight fighter to clean-up campaigner

EDDIE Neilsons fighting career continued long after he quit the ring.

The Swindon heavyweight retired from boxing in 1983, and then took up the cudgels on behalf of the people whose lives were blighted by living in Swindons red light district around Manchester Road.

Neilson turned professional in 1971 and his professional career spanned 40 fights, including 33 wins 31 by knockout, and just seven defeats.

Three of those defeats, in a six-month period between December 1982 and June 1983, signalled the end of his career.

In December 1983 he met Joe Bugner at the Royal Albert Hall.

But his chances of winning disappeared when his right eye was cut in the opening round and two round later the referee called a halt, with Neilson unable to defend himself. Four months later he met Frank Bruno in a non-title fight at the Bloomsbury Hotel, but again a cut eye proved his downfall.

Within two months he was back in the ring for what proved to be his last fight, against Welshman Rudi Pika, again at the Albert Hall.

At the end of the seventh round, Neilson was ahead on points with one round to go. But to the astonishment of most of the crowd the referee called a halt due to the closure of his right eye.

Next day, a disillusioned Neilson quit boxing, aged 32.

But soon he was fighting another fight against the prostitutes and pimps who plied their trade in Swindon. His career as a vice fighter ended in the early 1990s, when he and his wife moved to Purton. And in 1996, he took over as managing director of Blackford Contractors in Greatfield.

Ben Payne