'Objection to our bin store cost us £175,000'

Legal spat with neighbours 'two and a half years of hell'

- By Imogen Howse and Filipa Gaspar

A COUPLE have lost almost £175,000 after a two-year legal fight with their neighbours over the construction of a wooden bin store at their £1million country home.

Kevin and Elizabeth Harrison-Ellis bought a bungalow in Goring-on-Thames, Oxon, in 2020 and set about adding a first floor to accommodate their family.

Stuart and Anita Hunt, their neighbours in the property behind them, did not complain at the time even though the development impacted their view of the countryside.

But when Mr and Mrs Harrison-Ellis added a small wooden bin shed on their driveway in 2022, it prompted the Hunts to object and launch legal action that ended up in the High Court.

Horrendous

They claimed the extended house had become “unsightly” and resulted in a loss of “visual amenity” from the windows of their £2.3million house.

Mr and Mrs Harrison-Ellis have been ordered to pay £25,000 in compensation to their neighbours but were allowed to keep the moderations to their home, called Hillside, following the High Court ruling.