A £500 million plan to create a university super-campus will leave a York family's life in "ruins", a desperate father revealed today.

Chris Hawkswell was born on his father's farm - Lime Tree Farm - and spent his life tilling 300 acres of land around Heslington rented from Lord Halifax.

The 45-year-old dad-of-two had hoped to pass on the farm to his son and daughter, but today he said that dream could be over if plans to extend the University of York to take in thousands of students gets the go-ahead.

The plans would see the Hawkswells' land dwindle from 300 acres - from which the family earn £20,000 a year - to 70 acres, meaning that after a lifetime of hard work they would have to sell up and leave.

Mr Hawskwell, said: "I was born in the house and have lived here all my life. If we have to move it will be devastating."

Chris Hawkswell will have to move his wife and children away from the family home of 50 years if the development gets the green light - and land he farms becomes the hub of a new £500 million "super campus".

In a plea to academics, he called on them to rethink the Heslington East blueprint.

Mr Hawskwell, who has lived at what is now the village's last working farm all his life, vowed: "I was born in the house and have lived here all my life.

"I don't want to move. I'm going to dig my heels in."

The 45-year-old currently earns about £20,000 annually farming on about 300-acres of rented land. His father started the farm in 1957 by renting 150 acres to supplement the 70 acres he owned before the existing university campus emerged in the 60s.

For the last 40 years a cloud of uncertainty has hung over the future of Lime Tree Farm, with campus expansion plans on the doorstep always a possibility.

Now any prospect of handing the family farm on to his son looks in serious jeopardy.

But Mr Hawkswell, who lives at the Main Street farm with wife Sally, 46, and their two teenage children, said: "We've had 40 years of uncertainty.

"If we have to move it will be devastating," he added. "Our children have been brought up here. The development would ruin my life."

Last week planners approved the university's outline blueprint after a marathon eight-hour meeting. The proposal - accommodating 3,300 more students, creating 4,500 jobs and doubling the size - now looks likely to go to public inquiry.

Mr Hawkswell said if three quarters of his land is snapped up by the university, running a working farm on the remaining 70 acres would be almost impossible.

The farmland is owned by the Halifax Estate, so the family has little influence over its future.

The landlord has offered them alternative land in Garrowby, but the Heslington farmer said this would not offer long-term security.

"The future is very uncertain," he added.

"It would be very difficult for them to ask us to move from the house, but we could end up living in the middle of a building site."

The farmer was among nearly 20 people who spoke at the council meeting opposing the plans.

But the university's pro-vice chancellor, Professor Janet Ford, said the development would bring "huge benefits" to the city and region.

"Before deciding on Heslington East, we assessed 16 locations, many of them brownfield sites, in York, but all had significant drawbacks. Scope for expansion on the existing campus is also insufficient.

"We will continue to work to allay outstanding concerns members of the local community may have."

She said land negotiations were well advanced and Prof Ford added that she understood the landlord was working with the Hawkswells on the issue.

Updated: 11:06 Tuesday, March 29, 2005