Inside the six-year neighbour fence row that saw couple lose £160k and wiped thousands off the value of their home
A COUPLE lost £160,000 in a six-year neighbour fence fight that wiped thousands off the value of their home.
Gary and Kerry Hambling were embroiled in a heated battle with “neighbours from hell” to tear down a 6-foot high fence of their dream country home in Suffolk.
The couple had been feuding with neighbours Garry and Jenny Wakerly over access to their home for about six years.
But, after splashing around £160,000 on legal bills the Hamblings lost their fight.
The wealthy family, which owns a utilities installation company, bought their Garden Cottage in 2015.
The four-bedroom dream country home included a quarter of an acre of gardens, its own stable and a two-acre field.
But the half-million home was yards away from their neighbours’ drive.
The bitter row kicked off when they started using the field as a “car park” for “vans and trucks”.
The neighbours then slammed the pair for using their land.
They claimed the Hamblings weren’t allowed to cross the driveway to access their house as they had their own right of way to get to their home.
The Wakerlys accused their neighbours of “trespassing” and had the six-foot fence installed.
It lined their driveway, and cut off access to their front door.
The Hamblings were furious as the fence “boxed them in” and forced them to access their field through a dangerous highway.
“They are bullies. They are neighbours from hell,” Mr Hambling slammed.
“When the fence was first put up the kids were young and were having to walk along the 60mph road.”
The couple decided to take their neighbours to court labelling their actions as “monstrous”.
However, in 2021 the judge at Norwich County Court ruled in favour of the Wakelys and allowed them to build the fence leaving them £100,000 out off pocket in legal costs.
The judge ruled the Wakelys were entitled to put up a fence as the right of way was only for the use of the field.
But the family took their battle to the High Court claiming the previous judge had “misinterpreted” their case.
In January 23 judge Sir Anthony Mann ruled in favour of the Wakerlys again.
The Judge said: “The grantor of the (right of way) did not want the track blocked by domestic and delivery vehicles as being a reason why it was framed so as to exclude the possibility of the right of way being used for access to the cottage at all.”
The Hamblings left with a hefty legal bill and wiped £100,000 off the value of their cottage.
“We’re the fourth family to own this house in 20 years and we should have taken that as a red flag but we didn’t. There’s a reason so many people have sold,” Gary Hambling fumed.
It comes as another family in South London allegedly tore down a privacy fence after accusing her neighbours of stealing a 20ft piece of land between their homes.
Dr Veena Paes was embroiled in a bitter court battle with three sets of neighbours in her leafy suburban street, accusing them of ganging up for a “land grab” of her garden.