Hefty legal bill for couple 'ostracised from wine society in planning row with neighbours

A COUPLE who said they were frozen out of a local wine society by "nimby" neighbours are selling their £1.5million home to pay the costs of losing a court battle over it.

- Paul Keogh

Emma and Terence McGuinness face a "life-changing" £150,000-plus bill after a row that split a 47-home private community in Oxshott, Surrey.

They wanted to replace sprawling four-bed Birch Mead with two houses so her frail father could live next door.

But the residents' company which owns the roads to the estate said conditions of sale and access rights limit owners to "one plot, one house" and the plans would cause mayhem on the "idyllic and secluded" private site.

Touch

The pair claimed they were "ostracised" by some neighbours as a result. Mr McGuinness said they "lost touch" with some locals, with his wife no longer taking part in the wine society.

Ridgeway (Oxshott) Management Ltd sought an injunction to stop them using the roads for their build.

Yoga tutor Mrs McGuinness and her sales director husband lost their case in August and Central London County Court has now ordered them to pay lawyers' costs for the whole dispute.