A couple who have lived in a beachside home for 26 years have been banned from looking into their new neighbour’s property after falling out over building work.
Nigel Jacklin, 55, and wife Sheila were shocked to be issued with a ‘community protection warning’, the modern version on an Asbo, after being accused of harassing their neighbours.
The couple have been warned by police they face prosecution if they are ‘perceived by any person to be looking into any neighbour’s property’.
They have also been banned from walking directly to the beach past their neighbour’s home because it now forms part of an ‘exclusion zone’ imposed on them.
Nigel and Sheila Jacklin, who live in the house pictured on the right, have been banned from ‘looking in the windows’ of their neighbours house, left, following a planning dispute
The couple have been given a map of an ‘exclusion zone’ around the neighbouring property with red lines which they are not allowed to cross
The Jacklins live in a £600,000 five-bedroom, detached home just yards from a beach in the quiet seaside hamlet of Norman’s Bay, near Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex.
Five years ago clinical psychologist Dr Stephane Duckett and partner Norinne Betjemann bought a disused workshop opposite their house.
The couple, from London, then set about converting it into a £400,000 weekend holiday home.
Mr and Mrs Jacklin made a series of complaints about their new neighbours to the authorities, including allegations about noisy builders, verbal abuse and light pollution.
But the Jacklins were then investigated by Rother District Council and given a ‘community protection warning letter’.
They have also been banned from entering an ‘exclusion zone’ around the property owned by Dr Duckett and Ms Betjemann.
The couple had complained about renovation work being done to the property by Dr Stephane Duckett (left) and his partner Norinne Betjemann (right)
The two couples’ homes are opposite each other, but police moved in to investigate alleged harassment after the Jacklins complained about their new neighbours renovation work
They were banned from entering an ‘exclusion zone’ and ‘looking into their neighbour’s property’ from the beach in a letter they were sent by the council (pictured)
Marketing expert Mr Jacklin has branded the punitive action ‘ridiculous’ and says they will fight the decision.
The father-of-two said: ‘The police failed to investigate our side of the story. They treated us like criminals even though we had reported problems with Dr Duckett and Ms Betjemann for five years.
‘We live by the beach because we like to go to the sea; this action prevents us from enjoying the beautiful location we live in.’
He added: ‘The notice is preventing us from doing something that we’ve done for 26 years and caused no harm.
‘If we walk through the village we have to keep our heads hung low. We can’t walk to and from the beach or through the village without fear of being prosecuted.’
The parents would often walk past their neighbours’ property to access the beach.
Over the years, the pair say they have spent countless hours playing in the sand with their kids, walking their two dachshunds or just enjoying the view.
Mr Jacklin added: ‘We would just go and look at the stars.’
However, Nigel claims their new neighbours objected to their presence near their home after buying the property.
He said: ‘We used to sit on a log on the beach at the back of their property. They would see us, come out of their kitchen and film us.
‘Sometimes they would wave at us to get our attention.’
Dr Duckett and Ms Betjemann converted a disused outbuilding into his holiday home
The neighbour’s beachside home was a ramshackle hut before they bought it five years ago
Dr Duckett and his partner purchased the building and turned it into a weekend seaside home
Mr and Mrs Jacklin say the order was imposed after they were invited to attend a formal interview with Sussex Police in December 2017.
Mrs Jacklin said: ‘I was asked, ‘Why do you loiter on the beach?’. I couldn’t believe it. I told them not to use that word.’
The couple, pictured on the edge of the exclusion zone with their neighbours house behind them, are fighting the legal order which they say is Draconian
A Rother District Council spokesman said: ‘Community Protection Notices (CPNs) are aimed at preventing unreasonable behaviour that is having a negative impact on residents’ quality of life.
‘Before a notice can be issued a warning letter is sent to the individual in question advising them that their unreasonable behaviour must cease otherwise a CPN will be issued.
‘In this case, Sussex Police issued a warning letter on behalf of the council in an attempt to resolve a long-standing neighbourhood dispute.
‘A CPN would only be served if there was further evidence of anti-social behaviour.’
Mr Duckett and Ms Betjemann declined to comment.
Sussex Police also said they were unable to comment on the case.