A couple have been ordered to remove part of their patio and dismantle their central heating system after losing a legal fight with their neighbours over a fence that allegedly restricted access to part of their garden.
Helen Faber, an accountant, and her partner Dominic Miles brought a claim against their neighbours, Richard and Katherine Reid, alleging that a wooden fence installed in 2021 had reduced the width of a shared path by 40cm.
They claimed this made it difficult to transport items such as a picnic tray to the far end of their garden.
They argued the fence amounted to a 'nuisance' and caused a 'substantial interference' with their right of way, claiming the narrowing of the path made it hard to carry 'a large picnic tray laden with food and drinks…without spilling the drinks'.
The couple, who had returned to their Oxfordshire home after living in France, took the case to Oxford County Court, but Judge Melissa Clarke dismissed their claim.
