A 77-year-old woman faces being forcibly removed from her home in just 11 days after a judge threw out her final attempt to stop an eviction, ending a bitter five-year legal battle with her neighbour over a one-foot strip of land.
A Costly Dispute Over a Fence
The protracted saga between neighbours Jenny Field and Pauline Clark, 64, centred on the placement of a party fence in the quiet Poole, Dorset cul-de-sac where their bungalows sit side-by-side. The dispute began in 2020 when Mrs Clark erected the 6ft fence. Ms Field claimed it encroached 12 inches onto her land and, two months later, hired contractors to take it down and reposition it.
This action sparked a civil court case which concluded last year with a ruling in Mrs Clark's favour. Ms Field was ordered to cover the cost of the dismantled fence and a substantial portion of her neighbour's legal fees, initially around £21,000. However, her refusal to accept the judgement and subsequent repeated legal challenges caused the total bill to balloon to £113,000.
Court Door Slammed Shut
At Bournemouth County Court, Recorder Richard Paige dismissed Ms Field's latest applications to have the original decision struck out and the eviction notice set aside. He explained he had no jurisdiction to hear them because Ms Field is subject to a limited civil restraint order, imposed in June last year.
"You need the permission of a district judge to make an application and no such person has been sought or granted," Recorder Paige stated. "The applications are automatically struck out... It's as if they do not exist. There's absolutely nothing I can do."
These orders are designed to prevent serial litigants from making frivolous applications without permission, saving court time and resources. The judge confirmed that high court bailiffs are now set to evict Ms Field on January 26, change the locks, and sell her £420,000 three-bedroom bungalow to settle the debt.
Defiance and Despair as Deadline Looms
A defiant Ms Field told the court, "I am not going to be evicted from my home because I have trespassed on my own land, that's ridiculous." She vowed to "sit tight" and suggested she would report her neighbour to the police for making a "false claim".
In contrast, Mrs Clark described the five-year ordeal as "horrendous", saying she had undergone private counselling and "can't wait for this to be over". Her solicitor, Anna Curtis, has previously noted there is ample equity in Ms Field's property to pay the debt and still allow her to purchase another retirement home mortgage-free.
Ms Field, who bought the property in 2016, has been advised to contact the local council's housing department and the Citizens Advice Bureau. Legal papers state she will be allowed time to remove her possessions on the day the bailiffs arrive.
