Couple leave their home after neighbour row backfired and they were forced to rip up patio and central heating after complaining about fence

A couple forced to rip up their patio and central heating system from their cottage in a row with their neighbours have left the property over the dispute, MailOnline can reveal.

Dominic Miles and Helen Faber sued their neighbours after they claimed that a fence the other couple erected encroached on their shared path by 40cm.

They claimed that reducing the size of the 4ft-wide pathway meant that they could no longer carry a ‘large picnic tray laden with food and drinks without spilling the drinks’ from their house to the garden.

Their claim, however, spectacularly backfired when a judge threw out their case – and instead ruled that their patio and central heating pipes trespassed onto their neighbours’ land.

Furious with the outcome, Mr Miles and Ms Faber have since taken their neighbours to High Court in a bid to challenge the ruling.

Mr Miles and Ms Faber bought their home called Pear Tree Cottage in the Oxfordshire village of Wardington, about 10 years ago.

Their neighbours Richard and Katherine Reid moved in to Forge Cottage, worth around £370,000, five years later.

Mr Miles and Ms Faber initially lived in the semi-detached property, before moving to France and renting out the home.

Dominic Miles and Helen Faber sued neighbours after returning to their country cottage in Oxfordshire after a period living in France

Pear tree Cottage (left) and Forge Cottage (right) in the quiet village of Wardington, Oxfordshire

They then returned to the village near Banbury in 2021 to find the Reids had erected a fence on their shared path, which they believed encroached on their land.

But as relations between the neighbours deteriorated, Mr Miles and Ms Faber moved out of their home again, this time renting it out to tenants. A neighbour said he thought the animosity with the Reids had been a motivating factor in their decision to go. 

They said the couple had bought a campervan and were touring France. MailOnline was unable to contact Mr Miles and Ms Faber to confirm their whereabouts.

According to local residents, this isn’t first time Mr Miles has had issues with neighbours over his boundaries to his property.

Farmer Stephen Breakspear, 65, whose family have lived in the village for four generations told MailOnline he had an argument with Mr Miles over the conifer trees dividing his farm from their garden.

‘I have always found him quite difficult to deal with and I warned the neighbours about him, including the young couple that moved next door.

‘He lives in France now. He bought a campervan. He’s been back a few times but it is being rented out now.’ 

The farmer, who lives next door to the Reids, added: ‘He has given the Reids hell for some time.

‘I went and represented them in court as a witness because they are a lovely couple and I really don’t like to see bullying tactics, especially against the younger ones who I want to help.

‘They haven’t been in the village long, but it is a real pleasure to have them living next door to me.’

Richard and Katherine Reid (pictured) moved in to Forge Cottage five years after their neighbours

A judge ruled there was no nuisance caused by the fence put up by Richard Reid, pictured here outside London’s High Court, and his wife Katherine

Accountant Helen Faber and Dominic Miles pictured outside London’s High Court

Mr Breakspear added that the couple had spent almost £100,000 on the ongoing court cases.

His mother Margaret, who also lives at the farm, added: ‘Mr Miles shouldn’t live in the village. He has caused us problems. He ended up falling out with all his neighbours.’

‘We don’t tend to get involved, but when somebody treats another person so unfairly, we felt that we had to speak up.’

MailOnline has contacted the Reids as well as Mr Miles and Ms Faber for comment.

Judge Melissa Clarke at Oxford County Court had been asked by Mr Miles and Ms Faber to rule the new fence was causing a ‘substantial interference’ to their shared right of way.

But instead, the judge threw out the claim after the court found they had encroached on the path with a patio and oil central heating pipe.

The couple were then ordered to rip out the patio and the central heating system.

Yet in a challenge at the High Court, Mr Miles and Ms Faber are arguing Judge Clarke’s order is wrong. They are also still insisting the fence is removed.

This is the fence that has led to a High Court battle between feuding village neighbours

This 1944 plan shows the disputed path alongside Pear Tree Cottage (left) and behind Pear Tree Cottage and Forge Cottage (right) in Wardington, Oxfordshire

High Court judge Mr Justice Richard Smith heard that Mr and Mrs Reid’s home Forge Cottage (right) in Wardington, Oxfordshire, adjoins Ms Faber and Mr Miles’ Pear Tree Cottage 

The Reids argue that the judge was right to dismiss their neighbours’ gripes about the fence.

Stephen Taylor, for Ms Faber and Mr Miles, told the court that the couple had informed the previous owners at Forge Cottage before installing the heating system to no objections.

He said that meant their current neighbours could not now demand its removal.

Mr Taylor said: ‘A 4ft pathway can be conveniently used, for example to carry a large box along the way or a large picnic tray laden with food and drinks.

‘If the box or tray is 3ft 11in wide it can just get through without spilling the drinks.

‘It is submitted that even a small reduction in the width of a 4ft walkway amounts to a substantial interference.

‘It cannot be described as unreasonable for the claimants to insist on being able to use the disputed way conveniently when carrying a chattel.’

A ruling on the case will be given at a later date.

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