An estate agent has been left with a £200,000 court bill after losing a court fight with her millionaire ex-rally driver neighbour over a hedge between their seaside homes.
asserted
agent → leave → homes
Estate agency boss Sarah Douglas, 57, moved in 2017 into her £700,000 hilltop house described as having far-reaching 'fabulous views' across the coastline of Devon resort town Torquay.
But she became embroiled the following year in 'an unfortunate boundary dispute' with a then next door neighbour after he ripped out a hedge between their properties.
asserted
he → move → properties
That neighbour later moved out, but the row continued after wealthy Ronald Channon, 87 – a former rally driver turned insurance boss – paid £1.4million for a house next door to Ms Douglas in June 2021.
asserted
Channon → move → June
He promptly erected a new fence on what she insisted was 'her land', a court heard.
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court → erect → fence
The dispute between the pair, both labelled 'strong characters' by a judge, went to court last year.
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both → label → court
There was a disagreement over where the boundary lay between the two high-end properties.
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boundary → be → properties
Mr Channon claimed it should run along the line of the stems of the original torn out hedge, meaning the fence would stand on his land.
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fence → claim → land
Estate agency boss Sarah Douglas, 57, moved in 2017 into her £700,000 hilltop house described as having far-reaching 'fabulous views' across the Torquay coastline
Ronald Channon, 87, a former rally driver turned insurance boss, paid £1.4million for a house next door to Ms Douglas in June 2021
Ms Douglas said it should follow the line of the hedge's 'southernmost leaf' – meaning it would have been wrongly built in her garden.
asserted
it → move → garden
She lost the case after a judge ruled a boundary following the outside of the hedge would make no sense because it would change according to how bushy the hedge was at any given time.
uncertain
hedge → lose → time
Now Ms Douglas has also lost a High Court challenge to an order that she pay most of the legal costs, having to pay more than £200,000 of her neighbour's lawyers' fees on top of her own.
asserted
she → lose → own
Judge Paul Mitchell, at Plymouth County Court, branded the row a 'tragedy', adding: 'This is a wholly unfortunate dispute which, from any objective viewpoint, should plainly not have got to this point.
'
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which → brand → point
Clearly it has caused a significant amount of stress and upset, let alone cost.
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it → cause → stress
The properties which the parties respectively occupy are in what might be called an idyllic position, commanding fabulous sea views and should be enjoyed by each party to the maximum.
uncertain
what → occupy → maximum
'This dispute has substantially impacted upon the pleasure that each has been able to derive from living in what otherwise should have been something bordering idyllic circumstances.
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what → impact → circumstances
As a driver and co-driver, Mr Channon achieved rallying success nationally and internationally.
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Channon → achieve → success
He finished 13th in the 16,000-mile London to Mexico World Cup Rally in 1970 – whose participants also included football legend Jimmy Greaves, coming sixth – and was still racing well into his 70s.
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participants → finish → 70s
This shows the rear view from Sarsh Doglas's home, with the disputed hedge on the right.
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This → show → right
Ms Douglas has now lost a High Court challenge, leaving her with a £200,000 bill
An aerial picture shows Sarah Douglas's home at the top and Ron Channon's home below
Ms Douglas meanwhile is one of the bosses of a successful south Devon estate agency.
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Douglas → lose → agency
Judge Mitchell said that the two houses sit on the same road in Torquay, near the top of a hill affording both far-reaching sea views from their rear gardens, with Ms Douglas's property to the north of and higher up than that of her neighbour.
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houses → say → neighbour
In 2018, her then neighbour removed a hedge between the two properties, that Ms Douglas insisted belonged to her and that had acted to stabilise and retain the stepped-up bank between the two houses.
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that → remove → houses
In 2022, shortly after Mr Channon moved in, he built a new fence along the strip formerly occupied by the hedge, but on his side of where the hedge's stems had been planted.
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stems → move → side
The judge said: 'It is claimed that the removal of the hedge was a trespass; further or alternatively, that the removal constituted a nuisance which has led to instability and it is alleged that Mr Channon has adopted the nuisance and/or the trespass of his predecessor in title.'
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Channon → say → title
He went on to say that the row had then snowballed, with Ms Douglas suing for a declaration that she owned the entire strip formerly occupied by the hedge, up to its 'southernmost leaf'.
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she → go → leaf
She also requested an injunction and damages for the retaining bank being weakened.
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She → request → bank
Mr Channon had gone on to counter-sue, claiming £200,000 damages for diminution in the value of his house plus 'harassment and nuisance' over incidents including Ms Douglas's dogs getting into his garden and weeds encroaching on his property.
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weeds → go → property
His counter-claim was ultimately dismissed but the judge found in his favour over the boundary line.
uncertain
judge → dismiss → line
The ruling said the fence Mr Channon built was on his own land despite the southerly part of the hedge having formerly occupied that space.
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part → say → space
Picxtured is Sarah Douglas's home in Torquay
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home → picxture → Torquay
A next door property (pictured) was bought by Ron Channon for £1.4million in 2021
Former rally driver Ron Channon built a fence on what Sarah Douglas insisted was 'her land', a court heard - he has since won in their legal dispute
Judge Mitchell said: 'It seems to me where the boundary separating two properties is demarcated by a hedge which belongs within the curtilage of one of the properties, the boundary will run along the outer edge of the growers or trunks or stems.
'
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boundary → picture → growers
One can easily surmise that the growers were not the width of a tree trunk or anything of that sort.
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growers → surmise → sort
The boundary is then more or less a fixed point.
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boundary → fix → ?
This is a wholly unfortunate dispute, which, from any objective viewpoint, should plainly not have got to this point, but, given that it has, clearly it has caused a significant amount of stress and upset, let alone cost.'
asserted
it → get → stress
He described both parties as 'plainly a strong character with strong views, forthrightly expressed', adding: 'Each case of this sort is, in its own way, a tragedy.'
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case → describe → way
He went on to order that the estate agent should pay 70 per cent of her neighbour's legal bill for the fight, estimated at more than £300,000, with £108,402 up front pending an assessment of the full amount.
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agent → go → amount
Unhappy with that ruling, Ms Douglas went on to challenge it in the High Court.
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Douglas → go → Court
She argued that she should not have to pay any of her neighbour's costs, having succeeded in beating his £200,000 counter-claim, and also said the county court judge had blundered by agreeing that the boundary line should now run through the middle of where the stems of the hedge had stood.
uncertain
stems → argue → hedge
Judge Mitchell had found that the exact line of the boundary would be along the southern edge of the hedge's stems, but had gone on to approve the boundary line being drawn through the middle of where the stems were.
asserted
stems → find → middle
That had been argued for by Mr Channon's expert surveyor, saying that the difference was a matter of 'millimetres' and was so small as to not matter.
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difference → argue → millimetres
On appeal, Ms Douglas objected to this, claiming the judge had wrongly robbed her of a wafer-thin strip of her garden with his decision.
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judge → object → decision
But Mr Justice Linden, in a ruling given last week, said the county court judge had been within his rights to say that the tiny difference didn't matter.
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difference → give → rights
…and 9 more, not listed.
The Aporia
