Animal charities today won an appeal for the bulk of the proceeds of sale of the £350,000 Harpenden home of animal loving ex policewoman June Fairbrother.

The charities successfully overturned an court ruling that the home should go to her 59-year-old nephew Kenneth King, who moved in to care for her in the last four years of her life.

He claimed that although she had originally planned to leave her home to the charities she changed her mind and left the house to him in the hope he would care for her dogs Tinker, Bonnie and Patch and cats Blackie and Katie after she had gone.

But after she died he sent her beloved dogs to a dogs home.

In July last year Deputy High Court today Charles Hollander QC rejected a challenge by the animal charities and said Mr King was entitled to the house at Kingscroft Road, Harpenden.

Divorcee Mrs Fairbrother, a retired policewoman who served in the Hertfordshire Constabulary all her working life, had no children.

Born in June 1929, she died aged 81 in April 2011.

Today, unanimously overturning the earlier leaving Mr King the house Lord Justice Jackson, sitting with Lord Justice Patten and Lord Justice Sales at the appeal court in London, said he was not entitled to the entire property.

The court ruled that he was only entitled to £75,000 from the sale of the house as "reasonable financial provision."

The judge told how Mrs Fairbrother "was extremely fond of animals" and "kept a number of cats and dogs."

She also helped several animal charities with their work. He said: "It was common knowledge within the family that she intended to leave her property to the animal charities which she supported."

In a 1998 will she left her property to various animal charities, The Chiltern Dog Rescue, The Blue Cross Animal Shelter, Redwings Horse Sanctuary, The Donkey Sanctuary, The International Fund for Animal Welfare , and The World Society for the Protection of Animals.

But in the summer of 2007 four years before her death her nephew moved in with her to care for .

The judge said he had worked in the construction industry but was twice made bankrupt in 1990 and 2000.

He was also given a 12 month prison sentence in 2005 for acting as a company director while disqualified.

On his release he separated from his wife and went back to working in the construction industry before moving in with his aunt who was "becoming increasingly frail".

He claims that on the promise that he would look after her animals she left him the house and signed a purported will known as a donatio mortis causa - DMC - leaving him the property and handing him the deeds before she died saying: "This will be yours when I go , or similar words."

Under the DMC the charities got nothing. Mr King remained living in the house, but after his aunt died he sent her beloved dogs off to a dogs home.

The charities were "aggrieved" and claimed because he had shown disregard to the niceties of law and honest behaviour he was unreliable and his evidence should not be accepted.

Judge Hollander accepted his evidence but said if he was wrong about Mr King getting the house he should get £75,000 from the sale.

The charities said that was too much and he should get no more than £40,000.

He claimed he should get twice as much £150,000.

But Lord Justice Jackson said today that while the judge got it wrong over the house because the "gift" had not been legally proved and the judge should not have accepted his uncorroborated evidence, he was right that £75,000 was adequate compensation for Mr King.