An elderly Sussex couple have become embroiled in a row with their wellness guru neighbour after being blocked from accessing their front lawn at their £900,000 property.
Barry Dean, 75, and his wife Sarah, 70, are suing wellness coach and "energy healer" Claire White, 49, and her partner Bidjan Nathan, 57, over a disputed right of way at their homes in Ditchling.
The Deans claim they have historically used their neighbours' land to transport gardening equipment, but are now forced to carry their mower through their house or down steep steps.
The couple, who moved to their Sandpit Cottage home nearly 40 years ago, say they have used the access route since 1987 to keep their front lawn "looking smart".
The couple moved to their Sandpit Cottage home nearly 40 years ago
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Initially, the arrangement appeared amicable as Nathan allowed lawn maintenance access as "a neighbourly thing to do".
The Deans' barrister, Michael Ranson, told the court his clients had always exercised their "right of way" over a strip of the neighbouring property's land, adding that vehicular access was used once or twice yearly, while pedestrian access occurred weekly outside winter months.
However, the dispute escalated when the elderly couple installed a locked gate at the street end of the access route, refusing to provide the Deans with a key or access code.
Around 18 months later, the defendants installed a second gate where the disputed land meets the Deans' garden, which was designed to only open from the neighbours' side of the boundary.
Ranson told the court his clients' access was further impeded by "parking cars on it, erecting gazebos and putting wooden and metal planters on the route".
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Richard Bowles, representing Nathan and White, argued the Deans have no legitimate right of way over the property, explaining that the couple only began regularly using the access route after it was resurfaced in July 2020.
The defence noted there were no visible tracks or marks suggesting prior use of a right of way when his clients moved in - and that the Deans had never paid towards maintaining the alleged right of way.
Giving evidence, Dean described the difficulties of using alternative routes to access his front lawn, saying: "It's hard to get a mower down those steps now, so my wife and I carry it down."
He explained that navigating the steep narrow steps often resulted in "a few bruises" and potential damage to the mower.
"I sometimes go down those steps, but not if I'm carrying the wheelbarrow," Dean added, noting they attempted to cut their front lawn every other week during summer months.
Relations between the neighbours deteriorated in 2019, partly due to disagreements over maintenance costs for the disputed land
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Relations between the neighbours deteriorated in 2019 - partly due to disagreements over maintenance costs for the disputed land.
When installing the locked street gate, Nathan and White provided access to another neighbour but not the Deans.
White explained in court they withheld access "because we were advised that they had no legal right of way over our property".
When asked if they wanted to stop the Deans using the right of way, she replied: "We wanted to stop them intimidating and harassing us."
The trial at Central London County Court continues.
