Eviction teams in Hubei province have found themselves fleeing for cover after a farmer twice used a homemade rocket launcher in recent months to try and ward them off, China Daily reported on Tuesday.

After attempting for months to evict the man from his plot to develop it for commercial use, Yang Youde, 56 years old, fashioned a canon made of a wheelbarrow and pipes and used fireworks bought at a local market as rockets.

"I...