A house buyer assaulted the vendor at the end of what developed into a bitter wrangle.

Magistrates heard Alfred Horn changed his mind about selling after agreeing a price, after the buyer had paid for a survey and invited the buyer to come round with the kitchen fitters to measure up.

The court heard George Fogarty -- father of four times World Superbike champion Carl Fogarty -- upped his offer by £5,000 to try and persuade Mr Horn to sell and when he refused lodged a county court claim to try and recover the £350 he had paid the surveyor.

And the assault came after Mr Horn switched the county court hearing from Blackburn to Liverpool and Fogarty went to his home in Newsholme, near Clitheroe.

Fogarty, 63, of Greenbank Cottage, Clitheroe, pleaded not guilty to assaulting Mr Horn but was convicted after a trial. He was given a conditional discharge for 12 months and ordered to pay £50 compensation and £150 costs.

The court heard that Fogarty claimed Mr Horn pushed him out of the house and as he fell backwards he lashed out and struck Mr Horn on the side of the face.

Mr Horn denied pushing Fogarty and claimed he had been struck with a "backhander" which caused him to fall over, banging his head on the door frame.

Fogarty said he had made an offer on the property the first time he and his partner visited and Horn had accepted. He paid £250 to get the estate agent to take it off the market.

He said Mr Horn then texted him, telling him to arrange the survey "as soon as possible".

The survey was done on March 30 and on April 11 Fogarty went to Moben Kitchens in Blackburn and phoned Mr Horn from there and asked if he could take the kitchen fitters round the following day.

Fogarty arrived with the kitchen people but Mr Horn was not in. Fogarty said: "I rang the estate agent to see if they knew anything and they said he had pushed a note through their letterbox to say he was taking the house off the market."