A retired couple from London are locked in a bitter privacy row with an office block across the road whose staff can see directly into their home.
Richard and Breda Gascoigne, aged 67 and 64 respectively, have lived in their flat in Clerkenwell, in the heart of the capital, for more than 30 years.
Richard and Breda, who are registered disabled thanks to long-running battles with cancer and lung disease COPD, have warned that their right to privacy has been removed by the offices next door.
They argue that the office is impeding on their right to privacy by failing to install privacy glass, film or blinds - and say landlords have instead told the couple to install such measures themselves.
Said offices are four storeys tall, with large windows which have direct sight-lines into the couple's flat from above and below.
Breda's illness means she is largely house-bound and needs natural light in her bedroom, where she spends much of her time.
Richard Gascoigne spoke to GB News about his long-running ordeal
GB NEWS
Her room is completely visible from the offices across the street - and the couple have said that putting up extra blinds or privacy glass is not an option, while leaving the lights on all the time with the blinds down is driving up their electricity bills.
She told GB News: "It's a natural reaction to look in. I get that. But in the summer, we'll need to have the windows open. Thank god for blackout blinds!"
The pair, backed by their MP, have endured a months-long exchange with the offices' landlords, who have so far refused to install privacy glass or put up blinds on their windows.
Emails seen by GB News show that the landlords claim they "cannot enforce the installation of privacy film on the windows as the office is let".
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The Gascoigne's flat is completely visible from the offices across the street
GB NEWS
Breda is forced to shut the blackout blinds in her room to secure her own privacy
GB NEWS
Instead, they would be "willing to pay for privacy film or a curtain" for the Gascoignes - which the couple warn "just isn't good enough".
"My wife does not want to spend what time she has left being in a dark room - it just isn't fair," Richard said.
Richard also said a neighbour on the floor above him has been forced to install his own privacy measures, as he has young children.
"These flats have been here 150 years, much longer than the offices, and we've seen heaps of tenants come and go - especially since Covid," he added.
"Every day of the week they've got staff in there from 8am to 5pm - and a cleaner from 7-10.
Workers over the road can see right into Breda's window - but property managers refuse to install privacy film
GB NEWS
"The workers might not even know there's a problem, but that's not the point. I'm not sure if they look - but they could.
"It's a matter of principle. How would they like it if I stood outside their windows and looked in?"
"It's a moral issue, really," he added. "And I've spoken to the police... If, let's say, I wanted to walk around in my own flat naked, I should have the right to do just that."
Richard has heaped praise on his local MP Emily Thornberry - who he labelled "good as gold" for helping to take his case to the offices.
But with no end in sight, the couple will be forced to block out their own windows for the foreseeable future.
GB News has approached the offices' landlords for comment.
