Fenced-in woman, 81, wins three-year access fight

An 81-year-old has won a three-year battle against a council that fenced across a gap in her garden wall her family had used as access for decades.

Helene Ball - a resident of George Road in Matlock, Derbyshire, since 1967 - took legal action after Derbyshire County Council cemented a metal fence panel blocking the 98cm gated gap between her garden and a council car park in April 2023.

A first-tier tribunal has ruled in Ball's favour over the dispute, after she proved use of the gate since the 1960s.

A right of way has now been established and the council has been ordered to ensure her access is not impeded again.

The judge also said Ball was entitled to an order for costs, with the amount to be negotiated. Her son said the costs to his mother were in the region of £50,000.

The retired teacher told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "I have taught nine, 10 and 11-year-olds all my life, but I never expected the council to act so babyish, they have been spitting their dummies out of the pram and it has been beyond childish.

"They did everything they could to bully me. They tried to put us off but they messed with the wrong ones.

"At my age you don't know how many years you have left, and this has given me three years-plus of stress but now we have proven they blocked our rights."

While the fence panel was removed within a year, vehicle access had been blocked throughout the whole legal battle as the Cavendish Road car park has been on the market for sale as a small housing development.

A route through the site for Ball has now been created by the council using concrete blocks.

In the court ruling, Judge Robert Brown said that some evidence from the council was "surprisingly combative" and found parts of it "totally irrelevant" and "most unhelpful".

The council refused to comment on or provide the cost of the legal challenge.

Clarification 18 September: This article has been amended to make it clear that the judge was critical of some of the council's evidence, not its legal representative.

Correction 8 October: We previously reported that the council had been ordered to pay costs of £50,000. The amount is still being negotiated, so the article has been updated to reflect this.

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