‘My neighbour is using Elvis to intimidate me. What do I do?’

QI am 77 years old and have lived alone in my mid-terraced house for 33 years. Since moving in 12 years ago, my neighbour has been a constant worry. It began with him offering up unwelcome compliments when his wife was not present. Later, when I caught him watching me putting washing on the line, I challenged him. In retaliation, he put a very frightening Elvis mask in his window facing outwards that could only be seen by me.

I called the police, who challenged him. His response was that his grandchildren had bought it for him and that he didn’t know it was placed in the window. The mask, at first sight, frightened the visiting police officer.

The police advised me to erect a 6ft fence in my back garden. This cost £600. Once it was up, I noticed my neighbour was looking out of his back bedroom window straight into my conservatory. I fitted opaque blinds, which are permanently pulled down. He then started standing in the front of the house or at his window watching me walk down the road.

I then saw him pull down a perfectly sound boundary wall at the front. In line with regulations, I paid to have another 6ft fence on the boundary of my side of the wall he had pulled down. This work cost me £750.

However, he has now created a gap in the hedge that exists between our gardens. Moving out of my home is not an option because of escalating house prices. What are my legal options?

AThere are two distinct legal questions here. One issue is your neighbour’s behaviour, and the other is responsibility for the cost of maintenance to boundary structures you share and how to enforce that.

Perhaps because your neighbour’s behaviour has been going on for 12 years it has normalised for you what is in fact deeply odd and sinister. What you describe is stalking and harassment. These are criminal offences as per the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and reportable to the police.

On the face of it, you have evidence to obtain a so-called Stalking Protection Order. This is a civil order. It should be applied for by the police and is free of charge to the victim.

You may also obtain a Civil Restraint Order. These are issued by a judge and last for three years ( but can be renewed). They serve to stop a named person having contact with you. If an order is ignored the person will be in contempt of court and may receive a prison sentence.

I realise all of this is a big ask for you on your own. There is a free stalking advocacy service called Paladin Service (paladinservice.co.uk) which can advocate with the police on your behalf and generally offer you support.

The secondary issue regarding the maintenance of your shared boundary may seem trivial by comparison.

In normal circumstances, the answer would be to establish certainty as to the legal responsibility for the boundary structure, and seek to have a conversation with your neighbour as to a joint approach. Here, though, contact with you is what your odd and sinister neighbour is seeking. So contacting him directly is may not be desirable.

While you can report a dangerous boundary structure to your local authority, you have no right to demand a neighbour carry out other improvement work to their boundary structure.

What you can do is what you have done to date. With the gap in the hedge, you need to somehow secure it from your side – sadly at your expense.