French village divided by bitter legal row over whether yurt-dwelling families are allowed to stay Three families set up home in yurts in Bussière-Boffy,central France But the local mayor took exception to their unusual choice of home Several years of legal wrangling has divided opinion in the village When three families moved to a remote yet picturesque village in the French countryside several years ago, they thought they had found the quiet, simple life they craved. The families, one of them British, had fallen in love with Bussière-Boffy, a tiny farming community, close to Limoges in central France, and decided to set up home in yurts - accommodation usually favoured by the nomadic people of the Asian steppes. But their peace has since been shattered after the families became embroiled in a bitter legal row with the mayor of the village who took exception to their unusual choice of home. Happy: Janie Corbett and her daughter Branwen, pose in front of the yurt where they have been living for several years Bitter battle: The row has divided the small community of Bussiere-Boffy, near Limoges, with many siding with the mayor and others supporting the yurt families The court battle has divided the village, with many siding with the mayor, Jean-Pierre Barrière, who claims he is simply applying planning laws, and others who support the British and French yurt families. Alex Bovet, a Frenchman who has a yurt on land he owns with his partner, has described the mayor's crusade as 'social cleansing and administrative harassment' according to The Telegraph. The British family at the centre of the row, antiques dealer and artist Peter Bateman, 44, his partner Janie Corbett and their children Branwen, 14, and Tarn, 10, moved to the area after they stumbled across it while heading home from a tour of the country eight years ago. They set up home in a field, with its owners consent and the two children attended the local school. The family were happy in their quaint surroundings until 2007 when the local council chose to map out plots of land where new buildings could be erected. Unusual choice of home: Three families who set up home in yurts in the small community of Bussiere-Boffy, France, have become embroiled in a legal battle with the local mayor who takes exception to their choice of accommodation Comfortable: The yurt has a wooden floor and wooden doors and windows and is made of a wooden frame covered in material The family could only stay on the land if the council decided that either the yurt constituted a tent - it is made of a wooden floor, wooden doors and windows and surrounded by a wooden lattice frame covered in material - or that the land was declared 'a new building zone'. But the mayor said that according to law the yurt constitutes a dwelling more akin to a bungalow than a tent. He claims it would have cost the town £34,000 to keep the yurts as the local authority would have been obliged to hook them up to the water and electricity supply. He refused to allow the families to be included on the electoral role the following year, and the inhabitants claim that he denied one of their children access to the local school. On a mission: Mayor Jean-Paul Barriere, pictured in front of the town hall, says that he is only adhering to planning regulations Although the situation was temporarily calmed when the region's deputy government prefect promised that the yurtists would be accomadated, trouble flared again in 2010 when the mayor posted a decree banning 'wild camping'. A disgruntled Mr Barrière took legal action the following year when he was hit in the face with a pie during a television documentary on the row. The yurtists appeared to finally have won the long-running dispute late last year when a court ruled that their yurts are tents and they could stay on the land. But the prosecutor appealed the verdict and has now called for fines and orders for the families to leave the land within three months. According to The Telegraph, mayor Barrière said: 'They're in a region where outsiders are already looked at askance, so you have to make a big effort to be accepted. 'But they think it's up to us to adapt.'