81-year-old woman spends £50,000 in battle with council to walk through her own back garden

Derbyshire resident won costly legal battle over garden gate

The 81 year-old resident is celebrating her victory over the council after three years of legal fees piling up. 

Helene, a retired teacher, saw her fenced in her own garden after the local council blocked a metre-wide gap in her rear garden wall, as reported by Derbyshire Live.

Having lived at the same residence in Matlock since 1967, Helene could have never imagined she would find herself in the middle of a legal dispute over access to her own property.

After over 50 years of living in the same residence, the sudden implementation of a cemented gate came as a surprise, as she and her family had never encountered opposition to the gap in the wall.

Helene, being fully within her rights as a tenured resident of the Midlands town, found the judge ruling in her favour and ordered the council to meet the retired teacher’s costs.

Additionally, Derbyshire Council were told to ensure that Helene’s pedestrian and vehicular access were not to be obstructed ever again.

The gate was removed from Helene’s garden wall within a year of the ruling, yet her vehicular access remains blocked. 

Derbyshire County Council has refused to comment on the legal fees that rose from the three-year-long dispute.

Judge Robert Brown, who ruled in Helene’s favour, commented that the council’s legal representative was “surprisingly combative” considering the “limited evidence” and “unsubstantial assertions”.

Judge Brown went as far as describing the discussions as “pugnacious”, seeking to provoke confrontation aggressively, deeming the council’s legal representative as “totally irrelevant” and “most unhelpful”.

The cementing of the fence on Helene’s garden wall and the subsequent legal battle started under the former Conservative Party administration and was continued under the new Reform administration.

Helene had some words to share about the council’s behaviour: “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.

“It is absolutely shocking behaviour. They did everything they could to bully me,” she shared. 

“I just want to live peacefully. I am a strong woman and it has brought out my stubborn side.

“I dealt with bullies at school and then found myself being bullied again. They tried to put us off but they messed with the wrong ones.”

Derbyshire Live report that the costs are now being negotiated as part of the court agreement.