Stinging ‘£200,000 cost’ of wasp row
A KEEN gardener is being sued by her neighbour in a £200,000 court battle over falling apples.
Barbara Pilcher says the fruit drops in her garden and attracts wasps as it rots.
Mrs Pilcher says she is a “prisoner in her home” and has been unable to use the bottom of her plot.
She was hospitalised in 2018 following wasp attacks and has retrieved around 1,000 apples trying to avoid stings.
But, in addition to the falling fruit, she claims to have suffered years of harassment, trespass and nuisance from her neighbour Antoinette Williams. She also claims to have been plagued with smelly compost bins also owned by Mrs Williams.
Mrs Pilcher is also seeking compensation plus an injunction to prevent any future problems.
MrsWilliams moved into Frensham Cottage, Dunsfold, near Godalming, Surrey, nearly 40 years ago, while Mrs Pilcher bought adjoining Farleigh Cottage in 2010.
But tensions developed over the boundary between their two rear gardens, followed later on by claims from Mrs Pilcher that MrsWilliams had blocked her right of way through her garden and allowed
damp to filter into her home.The neighbours had one highly charged bust-up in January 2015, when Mrs Pilcher called the police, complaining her neighbour had banged on her front door and shouted at her, before driving over the grass verge and gesturing rudely.
MrsWilliams insisted it was she who was provoked by her neighbour after Mrs Pilcher gave her the middle finger from her window
earlier in the day. Oliver Newman, Mrs Pilcher’s barrister, said the first alleged trespass came in April 2013 when MrsWilliams strayed into the garden and removed a plant.
Other flare-ups included Mrs Williams allegedly “shouting and laughing”, blocking her parking, and repeatedly churning up the grass verge in her car.
Mrs Pilcher has logged some of the alleged antics on CCTV and
kept a diary. Mr Newman said the stress had caused her to seek psychological help.
Mrs Williams’ barrister told Central London County Court the key issues in the case, such as the boundary dispute, had already been resolved and branded Mrs Pilcher’s trespass, harassment and obstruction claims “trivial”. He said her costs were unlikely to be less than £200,000. The trial continues.