Ringed by a clutch of Zimbabwean soldiers clicking automatic weapons, Charles Lock handed over the keys to his farm and drove off his land for the last time.

Scores of white farmers, the last survivors of President Robert Mugabe’s land grab, and thousands of their black workers are going through similar agonies.

They now face the final deadline. As from today, any white farmer still on his land will be deemed to be trespassing on state property.

All agricultural land was officially nationalised last year — with the seizure to take effect from Oct 1 this year.

In advance of this deadline, Zimbabwe’s army and the Central Intelligence Organisation have been tormenting the last handful of white farmers and their workers.

About 50 have been summoned to appear at magistrates’ courts. Some have surrendered their farms and homes in despair in the last few weeks.

Mr Lock, however, is determined to fight on. “I may have been forced to go but I will continue to fight in the courts,” he said. “I have five court orders allowing me to stay.”

Four years ago Mr Lock was given permission to stay on Karori Farm in Headlands district, about 90 miles south-east of Harare, after two thirds of its land was made available for resettlement.

Earlier, Mr Lock had surrendered another 5,000-acre farm to the government.

But the last portion of Karori’s land still in Mr Lock’s hands caught the attention of a senior army officer, Gen Justin Mujaji and his wife, Pauline.

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