An East Morton woman spoke today of her hopes for an emotional reunion with her father who is caught up in Zimbabwe's bloody land invasion.

Lynne McMillan told of her father's growing anxiety about the situation in Zimbabwe - which has so far resulted in the murder of two farmers and the invasion of some 500 farms - and her own sadness at the plight facing the land she grew up in.

The Telegraph & Argus revealed last week how 100 supporters of President Mugabe had invaded the 4,500-acre farmstead where her father Bert Hacking, 74, his partner and her family farm tobacco, maize and cattle.

The squatters are still on the land and although there have been no confrontations, Mr Hacking has told his daughter that tensions are rising.

Mrs McMillan and her T&A photographer husband Anthony will be travelling to South Africa - for a holiday they had already planned - and hope to spend a week with Mr Hacking in Durban next month.

Mrs McMillan, 46, a clinical psychologist at the Centre for Crisis Psychology near Skipton, said: "I haven't seen my father for nearly two years and it is difficult being so far away. Being reunited with him will be wonderful. It will be a big relief simply to see him and know he's okay.

"He'll be going back to Zimbabwe afterwards - he's lived there all his life and wouldn't know what to do if he moved somewhere else at his age.

"For me there's a combination of tense anxiety about my father's position and incredible anger and sadness that the situation in the place I grew up in has come to this.

"It's like someone knocking on your front door here and saying 'I know you live here but the house no longer belongs to you. I'm moving in, now get out'.''

Mrs McMillan said: "The annual tobacco auction, which is the main source of foreign currency for Zimbabwe, should happen over the next few weeks but it's been predicted that won't go ahead which would have a major impact on the farmers' income and the country itself.''

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