Moan about neighbours' fence backfires as couple are ordered to rip up patio

AN accountant who claimed her neighbours' new fence interfered with her garden picnics has been ordered to rip out the patio and central heating system at her cottage.

- By Richard Gittins

Helen Faber and husband Dominic Miles saw red when, after living in France, they returned to their £375,000 home in 2021 to find the fence put up by Richard and Katherine Reid narrowed a 4ft-wide path leading to part of their garden by 15in.

They said it would be difficult to carry a large picnic tray to their patio and second garden area without spilling drinks.

After an angry row, they sued the Reids at Oxford County Court and said the new fence created a “substantial interference” with the shared right of way.