Farmer hits back at neighbours in road feud . . . by putting up 13 speed bumps!
A FARMER put 13 hefty speed bumps on his drive in a venomous right of way dispute with his neighbours.
Peter Robinson, 57, installed the bumps as part of an attempt to make life as ‘inconvenient as possible’ for them, a judge said.
He also blocked the road leading to his neighbours’ property by driving his tractor at a snail’s pace along the track beside his farm.
Peter and Gwendoline Bramwell, who run an equestrian centre at the end of the road in Lanchester, County Durham, suffered ‘anxiety and distress’ as customers were accosted by Mr Robinson.
The farmer was alleged to have ‘jumped out’ at visitors as they drove along the track, accusing them of speeding and asking them their business. And, when the Bramwells, both 69, repaired a pothole on the track, Mr Robinson promptly removed the filling.
The dispute had gone on for four years before it finally went to court. Now Judge John Behrens has hit the farmer with an anti-harassment injunction and ordered him to pay the Bramwells £4,800.
The judge said: ‘It is plain that relations between these two families have sunk to such a low ebb that each side is prepared to assert that the other has made threats against them and that they are frightened to walk on the lane unaccompanied.’
Mr and Mrs Bramwell run an indoor riding school and equestrian centre at Low Meadows Farm, which they have owned since 2010.
To gain access to their property, they have a right of way over the track – known as Kitswell Road – which mainly crosses Mr Robinson’s land. But Mr Robinson, who has lived at Lizards Farm since 1996, accused them of trespassing and making ‘excessive use’ of the right of way. He claims traffic has risen significantly since the Bramwells expanded their business.
His partner, 48-year- old Karen Turner, said yesterday: ‘We used to live in a lovely tranquil area and they’ve ruined it. I love rare breeds of sheep and we can’t graze that land any more.’
But the Bramwells said Mr Robinson was unlawfully interfering with their right of way and took him to Newcastle County Court. Along with 13 ‘too high’ speed bumps, Mr Robinson had also put up three gates along the 700 yard track, recently insisting that two of them remain shut ‘at all times’ to prevent his sheep straying.
Judge Behrens said Mr Robinson’s behaviour had been ‘totally unreasonable and unacceptable’ and amounted to harassment.
‘I accept that he has jumped out at users of the track, behaved aggressively towards them, deliberately driven his tractor at very low speed so as to in effect block the track,’ he said. ‘His attitude to repairing the track was wholly unreasonable. It can only be interpreted as an attempt to make use of the way as inconvenient as possible.’
Mr Robinson was told to remove all but five of the speed bumps and to lower the others so they do not scrape the bottom of vehicles.
The judge ordered him to pay the Bramwells £ 1,300 for lost rent because one of their tenants had left. He was also ordered to pay them £3,500 damages for the ‘inconvenience, anxiety and distress’ he caused, and faces a legal costs bill that is likely to dwarf those sums.