Neighbour row costs pensioners their entire life savings after argument over fence

Leedham, who passed away in 2021, obtained legal advice which said she could put the fence up prior to her death.

The Batesons have since sought an injunction to have it taken down, arguing that it blocked the entrance to the drive of their home.

When the couple bought the two-bedroom property on Brent Avenue, near King's Lynn, for £29,500 in 1987, they were informed that it shared a drive with the next-door neighbour.

They argue they were told that a featureless boundary existed between the two homes, and claim they were explicitly told it should not be built on.

After three years of litigation, a meditation hearing in 2021 agreed that a deeds map would be drawn up - which showed that the boundary between the two homes was aligned with the fence.

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he couple said they felt like they were forced to sign to accept the solid line boundary change, after numerous legal challenges amounted to nothing.

“We'd lived here 32 years without any problems with the previous neighbours, they all agreed it was a shared drive," said Katherine, a 73-year-old retired factory supervisor, told the Eastern Daily Press.

“We bought it as a shared drive, that's how it was explained to us and sold to us.

“I don't understand how you can have all the checks done legally and 30 years later it comes back and bites you on the bum.

“To have all your life savings taken away like that, when you knew you were right in the first place.”

Leedham’s family have fought to keep up the fence outside the property - which is now on the market for £375,000 with agents Sowerbys.

The company says: “This chalet bungalow, surprisingly spacious, occupies a serene spot at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac,” though have not mentioned the fence nor the boundary dispute.

The fence was removed by Graham Bateson in 2022, after he grew tired of the situation and decided to take matters into his own hands.

He subsequently was arrested for criminal damage and had to spend 12 hours in a cell.

The charge was later dropped after the Crown Prosecution Service determined that it was not in the public interest to proceed.

It has not been re-erected, though Katherine said: “We're still living in fear they will put another fence up when there shouldn't have been one in the first place.”

They have now given up their legal battle, staying they could no longer afford to having used their entire life savings to fund it.

“We saved and worked hard,” Graham said. “It's all gone now.”