Neighbour speaks on ‘horrific’ fence feud that cost her life savings and ‘destroyed’ her life

A woman who has lost hers and her husband’s life savings over a legal row involving a fence has spoken out about her “horrific” experience.

Katherine Bateson, 73, and her husband Graham, 75, from Snettisham in Norfolk, have poured £45,000 into lawyers’ fees to challenge a fence erected by their neighbour Wendy Leedham in 2019 on their shared drive.

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

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

Speaking exclusively to GB News, she said: “It meant we had to drive along the pavement when we wanted to exit. It was virtually impossible to move our vehicles without driving on the pavement. So there’s no way that was how the houses and drives were intended to be developed.”

The two sets of neighbours had a cordial relationship, with Leedham giving the couple a spare set of keys in case of an emergency when she went away.

Leedham’s husband, who she had lived with at the property since they moved in 2007, passed away and a couple of years later, a new boyfriend moved into the property, which is when the trouble began.

On July 29, next door began erecting the fence with “no warning at all”. They first began by the brick pavers from the Bateson’s property, before assembling the fence in its place on July 30. Graham protested the building to the neighbours but his pleas were ignored.

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The couple argue they were previously told in a surveyors report 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. “We did not agree with that and have been fighting it ever since,” Katherine said.

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

“The fence never should have gone up in the first place on a featureless boundary which was conveyed to us by the very solicitor that is now acting against us.”

“We (the Batesons and Leedham) both signed our contracts – both our deeds have a featureless boundary.

“Why would they need to change the boundary if they were correct in the first place?” Katherine questioned.

After years of legal disputes, Graham decided to take matters into his own hands and take the fence down himself. The border had unequally divided their drives, with the Bateson’s now at just a width of 1.8m, whereas next door had a spacious 2.8m to drive out of.

He was subsequently arrested for criminal damage and forced to spend 12 hours in a cell, before Katherine went and picked him up at midnight. “That was horrific for him and for me,” she said. “I’ll never forget that day.”

Prior to this incident, Katherine explained that Graham had been going through a terrible time medically, losing a stone and a half of weight and was then prescribed steroids. “I actually did think I was going to lose him”, she explained.

The health stress combined with the border feud caused Graham to snap: “He just thought he can’t live like this anymore.”

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

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, who have not mentioned the border dispute and have boasted it “occupies a serene spot”.

Katherine lamented about their current decision, which has seen them lose their entire life savings. “We’d rather go to prison than suffer like this. The solicitors need to be shown what the law is.”

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

When asked how it’s impacted them, Katherine replied: “It’s more than impacted, it’s absolutely destroyed our lives.”