Prince Charles has been accused of bullyboy tactics after invoking an ancient law to acquire the rights to mine underneath the homes of residents in a Cornish village.

Residents of Stoke Climsland village spoke out after each of them received a letter from the Prince of Wales’s Duchy of Cornwall estate to mine underneath their houses.

He is even trying to force the property owners to alter their deeds to reflect his right to the metals and elements buried beneath their floors.

The letter has sparked fears that the claim could indicate plans for fracking or mining in the area, but the estate has denied it has such an intent.

After receiving the letters, many of the homeowners in the area re-checked their deeds and found that contrary to the prince’s claims, their deeds make no mention of the Prince’s estate owning the land, but the Duchy says that a 19th century Act of Parliament granted it the mines.

They have been given until December 3rd to contest the claims.

Contesting the claims however could land them with a legal bill running into thousands of pounds.

Former policeman Clive Donner, 60, said: “When we purchased the property I examined the deeds.Nowhere does it mention that Prince Charles has the mining and mineral rights in or under our homes.

“I also have deeds from as far back as 1847 for our property and again it does not mention anywhere anything about rights of the Duchy.
“They say they are not planning any mining but just following the law. If this was the case, why not just let the whole mining minerals application dissolve into history, or at the very least state that the Duchy has no intention now or in the future to conduct any mining in or under any homeowners’ property?”

He added: “The document states that if we do not reply it will take this as meaning we agree to the Duchy’s request and application. Employing a legal adviser would cost a small fortune and is out of reach for all of us.

“This is nothing more than bully tactics and has been done to ensure that the Duchy gets what it wants and that we, the actual owners, and the people who live here, have no chance to challenge the application.”

Cornwall is very rich in minerals and metals – and this is what the government are mining for.

Over the last few years experts discovered large deposits of an ultra-rare element – indium – at Cornwall’s South Crofty, near Redruth, worth an estimated £200 million.

The sought-after substance is used to make liquid crystal displays displays for iPads, satnavs and computer monitors.

But the Duchy insists it has effectively owned the sub-soil beneath the 130,000-acre estate since its creation in 1337 and is ‘simply registering its existing rights.’

Duchy spokesmen however deny that they have any intention of boring into the ground.

They have however, failed to explain why it is that they are sending letters out laying claim to the land underneath the homes.

The villagers’ outrage comes after the Marquess of Salisbury angered residents of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire earlier this month, after asserting his rights to his neighbors’ land so he can dig for minerals under their homes.

Following that claim, residents took to social media to oppose the plans.

Last year, the Akashic Times revealed how an ancient chancel law could allow churches to force homeowners to pay thousands of pounds towards their repair costs.

A little known chancel repair law dating back to the Middle Ages can allow churches to force anyone living in the local vicinity who has a mortgage, to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the church.

Churches can ask for repairs to the chancel – the area where the altar stands in a church.

In Norfolk for example, homeowners were sent a letter  which told them that they could have to cough up cash to pay for repairs at nearby St Andrews’ church because of Chancel Repair Liability.

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