Millionaire's ex-mistress evicted from £1.7m house

The former mistress of a millionaire racehorse owner has been evicted by bailiffs from her one-time lover's £1.7m house. Glory Clibbery, 51, was carried down the steps of the nine-bedroom, red-brick mansion in Newmarket, Suffolk, and wheeled off the premises by bailiffs hired by her former partner, Ivan Allan.

Mr Allan, 63, won a High Court order in July to evict Ms Clibbery and her 78-year-old mother, Marguerite, his former housekeeper. Yesterday, Ms Clibbery, who had a 12-year relationship with Mr Allan, wept and hugged her mother on the pavement outside the gates.

She said the bailiffs had forced their way in. "This is the result of there not being any protection in law for partners," she said. "Until this country catches up with a large part of the rest of the world, people like Ivan Allan will be able to do this kind of thing."

Ms Clibbery, a Canadian-born actress, had told the High Court that her mother had lived in the house for 15 years and Mr Allan had promised she could call it home for life. She had gone to live with her after her relationship with Mr Allan ended in 2000.

When bailiffs arrived on Wednesday, they were met with wired gates and locked doors. Ms Clibbery said they told her she could have five days to pack and find somewhere else. "We have been ejected having been told we had five days," she said. Ms Clibbery, who has had a leg amputated because of diabetes and uses a wheelchair, said she locked herself in when the bailiffs arrived.

She said she agreed to come out only when she was told that she could take her belongings. But when they got outside the gates the bailiffs refused to hand them over. She said the belongings included her computer containing documents relating to her High Court battle.

Ms Clibbery said her mother was owed £800,000 by Mr Allan. "I never wanted any money," she said. "All I wanted was for him to pay my mother what she is owed for the upkeep of the house."

Mrs Clibbery said: "Glory cannot believe it has come to this. The sad thing is it's all her young years she has wasted on this man." She said they had nowhere to live and had £350,000 in legal debts. The Clibberys intend to present further evidence at a hearing on 20 October. Mrs Clibbery later said they had been allocated a shared bedroom in a hostel.

Mr Allan's solicitor, Stephen Beverley, said: "This is a sad day for all parties. The Clibberys have been given numerous opportunities to leave in a dignified manner. What's more, they have refused accommodation from the local authority.

"After 12 years of little more than a chequebook relationship, my client's generosity in allowing Mrs Clibbery to stay in the house was repaid by them running a B&B for profit and refusing my client and his visitors access for the past four years."