A COUPLE fought their neighbour for ten years after he said they had the “ugliest fence ever” – before it ended tragically.
John and Rita Laws, from King’s Lynn in Norfolk, were friends with their neighbour Roy Bentley until he slammed the couple’s new boundary fence in May 2012.
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He put up a huge sign reading “Ugly Fence House” and allegedly started blasting tunes including “Don’t Fence Me In” and Chopin’s “Funeral March” on his car stereo.
Roy said at the time: “They built the fence in such an unreasonable manner and with very little negotiation – and the arguments began.
“We don’t even exchange pleasantries any more – we simply shout over the fence.
“I told them it looked hideous – like something out of a prisoner-of-war camp. It is the ugliest fence in the parish.”
In 2013 Roy was slapped with a harassment notice by cops – but the row ended tragically when he died earlier this year.
Roy had stuck to his promise not to cause trouble, and lived out his days looking after his 93-year-old wife.
John Laws, 71, said: “We have always maintained a silence over what happened.
“We used to get on very well – I used to do little building jobs for him.
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“But he claimed the fence was encroaching on his land, if only by a couple of inches.
“At one stage the police put a camera up on our house to capture what was going on
“Mr Bentley became quite spiteful and malicious and threatened to see us in court.
“It went on every day for a couple of years.”
‘CHILDISH’
Neighbour Helen Bensley said: “It was an extraordinary saga – all sparked off by a wooden fence.
“But it escalated and at one stage the police seemed to be here every day.
“Some people felt it was very childish that they tried to ignore each other.
“And a lot of people around here liked Mr Bentley and I am sure no-one wanted things to escalate like they did.
“The rest of us living in the road get along – it is just a shame that those two neighbours got involved in such a row over something small like that.
“And that it lasted more than a decade.”
A spokesman for Norfolk Police said in 2013: “One resident has been issued with a notice outlining why the alleged behaviour is unacceptable and may constitute an offence under the harassment act.
“There is also the possibility that continued actions may result in arrest or prosecution.”
