‘Neighbour from hell’ who chopped down shared hedge to make her garden flowerbed 2ft bigger LOSES 6-year court battle

A 'NEIGHBOUR from hell' who chopped down a shared hedge to marque her plot 2 feet bigger has mislaid a six-year tribunal battle.

Tersia Van Zyl and her hubby Stiaan were taken to tribunal by Peter Walker-Smith implicit the gardening fall-out and were forced to wage £27,000.

The mum hacked astatine a hedge that separated her plot from Mr Walker-Smith's truthful she could 'improve her flowerbed'.

Mr Walker-Smith - who is simply a firm treasure for Imperial Brands, who marque Rizla and Golden Virginia - lives beneath the joined mates successful Claygate, Surrey.

Each flat has a tiny garden, which delighted Mrs Van Zyls arsenic she was excited to plan the space.

After removing the holly hedge, she enactment a obstruction successful its spot alternatively - enraging Mr Walker-Smith, who sued the mates successful March 2023.

He said the mates had nary close to region the hedge arsenic it wasn't theirs.

Judge Alan Saggerson agreed with the disgruntled nonmigratory and called the determination a "spiteful unilateral action".

He ordered them to wage £27,000 tribunal bill, but the Van Zyls continued to combat it astatine the High Court.

But apical justice Mr Justice Marcus Smith rejected their entreaty and ordered them to wage the eyewatering measure which consists of £2,200 damages and £25,000 successful lawyers' fees.

Mr Walker-Smith said the last tribunal measure could beryllium arsenic overmuch arsenic £50,000.

"I did not inquire for this. We were corresponding done solicitors erstwhile they went up and chopped down the hedge," helium told MailOnline.

The Tobacco idiosyncratic said that he'd asked the mates not to chopped it down but his pleas fell connected deaf ears.

Mrs Van Zyl told the judge: "I emotion gardening, I was excited.

"The hedge was consuming much oregon little a 3rd of my flowerbed that I wanted to usage successful a antithetic way."

Barrister Jonathan Wills pointed retired that the mates had removed the foliage but had enactment the caller obstruction up connected Mr Walker-Smith's broadside of the bound - resulting successful them taking 2ft of his garden.

He told the judge: "This isn't the biggest onshore drawback successful the world, but successful a plot that is triangular, it does marque a difference."

Mrs Van Zyl called Mr Walker-Smith a "neighbour from hell" who had ruined the "enjoyment" of her caller household home.

"This was my archetypal property, wherever I got married, wherever my children were born," she said.

But Mr Walker-Smith argued that it was Mrs Van Zyl who was the "neighbour from hell."

Barrister Lina Mattsson argued that the determination ignored a lease program and provided measurements.

"The cardinal diagnostic of this program is you bash person measurements," she told Mr Justice Marcus Smith.

"The authorities accidental you should springiness much value to the program than conscionable saying it's portion of a puzzle.

"The justice said the information his findings whitethorn not precisely correspond with the program is neither present nor there.

"But they're wildly off. There's nary resemblance astatine each to the measurements. The measurements person conscionable been ignored."

She argued: "There's thing successful the lease astatine each astir however shared ownership would beryllium dealt with."

"There's thing extraneous to enactment that conclusion. It is not an evident decision by immoderate agelong of the imagination."