A public inquiry heard how a Council officer spent nine days counting lumps of cat dirt in an Allerton street.

The environmental health officer carried out two separate surveys on gardens at six properties in Rossmore Drive.

The officer, Aliah Syed, told the day-long inquiry at City Hall yesterday, that she counted 48 pieces at the first survey and 44 on the second. The deposits varied from 19 pieces in one garden to smaller amounts in others.

Government inspector Sean Slack heard an appeal by cat lover Jenny Sampson over an enforcement order served by the Council planning department.

The Council claims she breached planning rules by changing the use of her four-bedroom semi-detached home by keeping 18 cats there.

Council solicitor Tim Ayres argued residential use was changed as there were too many cats to be regarded as normal.

Mrs Sampson claims her pets are 'permitted development' and she has not broken any controls.

But neighbours, who turned up to cross examine Mrs Sampson, said they have lost the rights to the enjoyment of their gardens.

They claimed they had to put up with stench, nuisance and damage. Mrs Sampson, a former building society worker who is now a part-time disc jockey, said she was prepared to reduce the cats to 12 over the next six years by not replacing them.

But she said it would be cruel to keep the pets permanently inside. She claimed their has been a 'hate campaign' by neighbours and there were a large number of other cats in the area who could have been the culprits.

Elizabeth Robertshaw, a neighbour giving evidence, claimed there had been 55 cats on the premises and the animals were causing an intolerable nuisance.

She added: "We have suffered this for seven years and should have the human right of enjoyment of our homes and gardens."

Mrs Sampson said cats could not be prosecuted for trespassing and she had complied with all advice she has been given by environmental health officers.

Mr Slack visited Rossmore Drive and will announce his findings in two months time.