DREAMS of moving to a sun-drenched Mediterranean retreat have been put on hold for one long-suffering Suffolk couple.Pat and David Trentfield had plans to permanently move abroad to a villa in the sun when their Felixstowe home was compulsory purchased by Suffolk Coastal council.

DREAMS of moving to a sun-drenched Mediterranean retreat have been put on hold for one long-suffering Suffolk couple.

Pat and David Trentfield had plans to permanently move abroad to a villa in the sun when their Felixstowe home was compulsory purchased by Suffolk Coastal council.

But now the council has postponed the compulsory purchase and a number of residents, who opposed the proposal, have sparked off a public inquiry, making the couple stay in the cold seaside resort for longer.

"We are trying to get the house together abroad but we have a deadlock here, I haven't had much time to think about anything," said Mrs Trentfield, of Langer Road, Felixstowe.

"It makes me feel upset, angry, you just can't get on with anything, we were told not to put any more money in to the property and the wooden fence has got to be done, inside decorating has to be done and all the repairs of the house.

"It has to be done but we can't afford to put money in – it will be wasted. We've just got to sit and wait for the powers that be, as they say."

Mr and Mrs Trentfield and their neighbours Russell and Christine Eaton have had the threat of a compulsory purchase over their heads for 14 years.

Mrs Trentfield, 57, had resigned herself to the fact that her home was to be taken from her by the council and demolished so that the area surrounding it, the south sea front, could be developed.

She had made plans with her husband to move away and start a new life abroad, but the latest delay in the compulsory purchase has meant she will unexpectedly spend another Christmas in Felixstowe.

"All we want to know is when and how much," said Mrs Trentfield, 57, of the compensation they would receive if their home was compulsory purchased.

"We're all a little bit cheesed off that were not being told anything. If we put the house up for sale who would buy it? Only somebody greedy who would want the money."

Mrs Trentfield was also annoyed because a number of residents had written to the Secretary of State in opposition to the compulsory purchase, which has led to a public inquiry.

"It's nothing to do with them - what we want and what we intend to do is nothing to do with them and only to us," said Mrs Trentfield.

Suffolk Coastal said they had delayed the compulsory purchase because the south sea front development project was behind schedule.

"I would like to dispel any uncertainty that this may cause to the landowners - our firm intention is to press ahead with the development, and we continue to be keen to purchase by coming to agreement with the owners," said David Smith, cabinet member leading on the south sea front project.

"If that still proves difficult we shall, as soon as it is legally appropriate, restart the necessary legal process."