Locals rage at £108m Lotto winner after he blocks path with a ‘revolting’ wire fence
AFTER scooping £108million on the lottery, Neil Trotter went on a spending spree that would turn most of us green with envy.
But one particular purchase has made the neighbours of his £5million mansion red with anger.
For Mr Trotter’s eight-bedroom Grade II-listed manor house and its 400-acre grounds have been surrounded by a ‘revolting’ wire fence.
Critics say the 6ft-high barrier not only looks cheap and nasty, but also blocks access to a popular public footpath.
It surrounds the lottery winner’s estate, which also boasts a lake and a separate three-bedroom oast house.
The issue boiled over at a parish council meeting in Cowden, near Sevenoaks in Kent, where furious residents called for action against the offending structure.
Felicity Miller sparked the debate by demanding: ‘I just want to ask a question about the new fences and the denial of access for locals.’
Malcolm Blades complained he had been able to use the footpath for 40 years, adding: ‘All that time I have had right of access under previous incumbents.
‘Now you have this new chap, Mr Trotter, who has this very obvious fence which is all metal and barbed wire, which is revolting.’ Members refused to debate
‘Unsightly and insensitive’
the matter as footpaths are dealt with by Kent County Council. But one, Petra Rawlence, confirmed she had contacted Mr Trotter about the ‘eyesore’.
‘The fence is an unsightly and insensitive in what I believe to be an area of outstanding natural beauty,’ she said.
‘It is an eyesore but my main interest is to make an agreement with him in the name of good neighbours.’
According to rumours in the village, the land has been closed off to make it suitable for grazing cattle and sheep.
Locals claim Mr Trotter, 43, has been avoiding the local pub since the barrier went up a few weeks ago because of the resentment felt towards him.
The fence, which is made from wire mesh supported between metal posts, is likely to have cost several thousands of pounds in materials and labour.
Not that former car mechanic Mr Trotter and his partner Nicky Ottaway, 35, who quit her job as an accounts assistant, are all that worried about their spending.
With a Euromillions jackpot of £107,932.603.20, the entire project could have been funded with a few hours’ interest.
They became one of the UK’s biggest lottery winners in March 2014 after buying £10 worth of Lucky Dip tickets.
And in addition to the wooden-beamed home they bought to replace their old three-bed semi in Caterham, Surrey, they have invested in a fleet of supercars.
Miss Ottaway has also talked about her penchant for splashing out on horses, designer handbags and shoes.
Speaking at the time of his EuroMillions win, Mr Trotter described how he and his partner hoped to find a ‘slower pace of living’ by moving to the country.
The couple were unavailable to comment yesterday.
The row is not the first neighbour’s dispute to erupt following a sizeable win on the lottery.
In 2014, Tom Naylor who won £15.5million took his neighbour to court in a bid to settle a bitter boundary dispute over a 3ft strip of land.
The former lorry driver and his wife Rita moved into a luxury £480,000 luxury barn conversion with two acres of land in the picturesque village of Wheaton Aston, Staffordshire.
His neighbour accused the multimillionaire of literally staking his claim to the tiny piece of turf by driving wooden posts into the ground and erecting wire fencing in an effort to claim the land.