A group of residents is outraged after being offered the chance to buy strips of land they already consider part of their gardens, with hundreds of pounds of legal fees on top.

Some 30 residents in Boy Lane, Bierley Lane and Spen View Lane, in Bierley, have received letters from Bradford Council telling them the plots are registered to it and they are considered “disposable assets”.

The strips of land vary in size but are valued at £10 per square metre, with some plots costing as much as £800. To purchase the land, residents are also being asked to pay £400 on top of the value of their plot to cover legal and surveyors’ fees.

Residents Carole and Michael Stephens have lived in Boy Lane for five years. The price of the land in their front garden alone is £730.

Mrs Stephens said: “The extra cost of £400 per house is ridiculous. In any other business transaction you would expect to pay your own costs.”

Spen View Lane residents George and Linda Camden have lived there for 11 years.

Mr Camden said: “With extra costs it will set me back £1,000 because we still have to pay our own solicitors and land registry fees.”

The Council only registered the land in its name with the Land Registry in the past 12 months having bought it in the 1950s.

Residents were invited to ask questions about the proposal at a public meeting hosted by the Council’s asset management team held at Bierley Community Centre.

In a lively meeting, ward councillor John Ruding (Lab) twice called for order.

Speaking at the meeting, Michael Waite, a resident of Boy Lane, said: “We’ve all looked after the plots of land but it’s not so much the price of the land that bothers me, it’s these extra charges. We’re honest working people and we’re just asking for you to be fair to us.” In a statement released following the meeting, a Bradford Council spokesman stated: “This matter was first brought to the Council’s attention earlier this year when a resident asked if she could buy the strip of land fronting her house.

“She was trying to sell her house at the time and was finding that prospective purchasers were unable to secure mortgages because the boundary of the property didn’t reach the public highway.

“Thirty other residents are in potentially the same position and the Council took the opportunity to offer the corresponding strips to them at prices consistent with completed sales of similar strips of land in similar parts of Bradford.

“Several of the residents are taking the opportunity to buy and we are in discussion with many others. In these very difficult market conditions the Council is offering to help residents to improve the marketability of their houses.

“No decision has yet been taken on what will happen to any strips that the residents do not wish to buy.”

Residents are waiting for a written response from the Council following the meeting.