A couple who modernised their home in a naturist village can stay in their chalet after winning a court battle against their landlord.

John and Maureen Pearson have been part of the "naked village" community at Spielplatz in Lye Lane, Bricket Wood, since 1992.

Having bought their house for £36,000, the couple spent more than £100,000 rebuilding it.

But their landlord Spielplatz Ltd claimed they had almost as few rights as squatters and launched court action to evict them in 2013.

The Court of Appeal yesterday ruled the couple were protected by the Housing Act 1988.

The court heard the Pearsons initially paid £800 a year ground rent on an annual tenancy, rising to £1,863 a year by 2006.

The couple gradually cloaked it in breeze blocks and put a new roof on it.

This work resulted in "some unfriendly correspondence" between the naturists and Spielplatz Ltd.

The company eventually sought to evict the couple claiming they were "changing an essentially wooden dwelling into a larger and more permanent brick/block structure".

Last April Judge Lindsay Davies sitting at Luton County Court rejected the landlords bid for possession.

She ruled that under the 1988 Housing Act the Pearsons had an assured tenancy and could stay.

Dismissing the appeal yesterday, Judge Sir Colin Rimer said the couple's chalet had become "part of the land" as it was too big and heavy to move, other than in pieces, and they had the protection of an assured tenancy.

He said there were no grounds for finding it was just a holiday home and an unprotected tenancy and the couple were entitled to occupy their home all year round.

Spielplatz - named after the German word for playground - was found in the 1920s and has 64 plots covering 12 acres.