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HARARE, 1 Feb - (ANA) - A white Zimbabwean farmer has been handcuffed and forcibly removed from his farm after police stormed the property to enforce a claim made by a British doctor. Phillip Rankin was first ordered off his tobacco farm in September last year following a claim for land made by Dr Sylvester Nyatsuro, who was born in Zimbabwe but now has British citizenship. At dawn last Friday police dug their way under the fence around the Rankin’s homestead, banged on the side door and told Mr Rankin that they would force their way in if he did not open the door. Eventually, Mr Rankin said he let the police in who proceeded to take all his furniture outside the house and loaded it on to trucks, then drove away. Mr Rankin said he prepared to leave the house and police dragged him from his vehicle, handcuffed him and drove him to a police station nearly 90 miles from the farm. Mr Rankin, who was later released and is now staying with relatives on a nearby farm told the Telegraph he was “terribly shocked”. His lawyer said the police had no arrest warrant and told her “leave us” when the officers were informed their actions were unlawful. Barry Rankin, 32, the older of the three Rankin children who worked on the farm said on Sunday: “I think we have finally accepted that we are not going back to the farm. I have also cleared out our house on the farm to avoid our things being broken up as happened when the police took my parents' furniture and their piano.” He took the precaution of moving his wife and three young children to Harare late last year. "We have now consulted with our pastor and we know it is over,” he said. “I don’t know what will happen to the tobacco crop as we are not allowed to be here and work.” He said his parents were staying with relatives in the area. “We are all finished,” he said. The Rankin's lawyer Nyarodzoh Maposa said: “All of this is lawless. It’s disgraceful, there’s no charge against him.” An arrest warrant was issued for Mr Rankin, 57, in January when he failed to vacate the property as per the land claim, but was later suspended. Dr Nyatsuro, a 45-year-old GP who runs a slimming clinic in Nottingham, arrived at the tobacco farm, Kingston Deverill, in September with a letter from the government allocating the land to him. Political sources in Harare suggested the doctor - whom Mr Rankin said was accompanied by his wife, Veronica and government officials, had family connections to Grace Mugabe, the president’s wife. Two weeks after Dr Nyatsuro departed, around 20 settlers moved into a vacant cottage on the farm in Centenary district, 145 miles north of Harare. When the Telegraph visited the property earlier this month, the settlers were living in the cottage on the estate and one of them was using a car registered to Dr Nyatsuro according to documents at the vehicle registry office in Harare. Mr and Mrs Rankin said they were facing mounting legal bills to defend themselves against a prosecution by the state for allegedly “trespassing” on the land they had farmed for over 30 years. A Foreign Office spokesman voiced concern that the seizure of the farm "did not follow the process as described by the constitution". "We are aware of the allegation that the beneficiary of this farm may be a British citizen," added the spokesman. "We will consider what further action to take." Lawyers for Dr Nyatsuro said he is a mere third party in the dispute which is between Mr Rankin and the state.