Pensioner loses £280,000 planning row over inches of land

Telegraph

03-07-2025

A judge has lambasted a pensioner's 'ridiculous' planning row over a few inches of space which landed her with a £280k bill.
High Court judge Sir Anthony Mann told 81-year-old Christel Naish that her complaints over a tap and pipe 'don't matter' and added the row was a 'ridiculous piece of litigation'.
Ms Naish sparked the feud seven years ago after claiming her neighbour's garden tap and pipe were 'trespassing' on the 'few inches' that separate their homes.
Last year, a judge at the Mayors and City County Court, found neighbours Dr Jyotibala Patel and her husband innocent. However, Ms Naish escalated the row by launching an appeal – which was thrown out this week.
During the appeal hearing, Sir Anthony Mann said: 'Hundreds of thousands of pounds about a tap and a pipe that doesn't matter.
'You don't care about the pipe and the tap, so why does it matter, for goodness' sake, where the boundary lies? It seems to me to be a ridiculous piece of litigation – on both sides, no doubt.'
Sir Anthony ordered the pensioner to pay 65pc of her neighbour's legal fees, roughly £100k, which adds to the six-figure bill for her own costs.
The appeal process added another £30k to her charge, the court heard.
Dr Patel said she was 'terrorised' by the 'petty and vindictive' complaints which forced her and her husband to sue.
The gap between Ms Naish and Dr Patel's houses in Ilford, east London, is too narrow for a person to comfortably fit through.
Ms Naish originally lived in the home as a teenager with her parents, before moving back permanently in 2001 after the death of her father.
Dr Patel and her husband bought the property next door 12 years later for £450k.
The couple's barrister, Paul Wilmshurst, told the judge the dispute began after Ms Naish complained about the tap and pipe. He said the couple felt forced to sue after the 'blight' on their home's value caused by the dispute.