Divorce battle continues 26 years after split

♦ The UK’S longest divorce battle continues, 26 years after the couple split up. Timothy and Carole Hayes are still fighting, even though they got divorced in 1991 and both have new partners.

Mr Hayes, 68, an accountant and computer entrepreneur, has always denied claims that he has got a £1million “pot of gold” hidden overseas, and his ex-wife has disputed claims that she has harassed him and his new wife.

Each has also issued a petition to have the other declared bankrupt.

After their latest face-off in London’s High Court, Mrs Hayes said she fears the battle will see her into her grave.

In 2005, Mrs Hayes, 67, successfully petitioned to have her former husband declared bankrupt for not paying £35,000 in legal costs. Mr Hayes, who was discharged from bankruptcy in March 2006, is now seeking to have his former wife declared bankrupt for non-payment of a series of legal costs orders made against her between 2006 and 2015, totalling around £50,000.

Mrs Hayes this week asked Mr Justice Morgan to rule that she should not have to pay up.

But the judge rejected her appeal, saying: “An order is an order is an order. The orders have gone unpaid. They have not been set aside. They remain enforceable. There is a long history of litigation. It has continued for a long time and has resulted in many – some would say too many – court appearances.”