Barry and Sarah Dean, who haved lived in the East Sussex village of Ditchling for years, say they’ve always used a right of way over part of their neighbours land, and are now suing wellness guru Claire White for blocking them
An elderly couple are suing their wellness guru neighbour for blocking access to their front lawn – after he told them to drag a mower through their £900,000 cottage home if they want to keep their grass neat.
Long-time residents of pretty Ditchling village in East Sussex, Barry and Sarah Dean say they have for years used a right of way over part of their neighbours’ land to bring their mower and wheelbarrows round so they can easily tend their front lawn and keep it “looking smart”.
But they claim that all changed when new neighbours – wellness coach and “energy healer” Claire White and her partner Bidjan Nathan – gated off the access, preventing the older couple getting to their lawn. Mr Nathan, 57, and Mrs White, 49, claimed their neighbours had no right to cross the land attached to their £500,000 home, telling them instead to drag their mower through the house or down awkward garden steps on the Deans’ own property.
The case has now reached court, with retired financial advisor Mr Dean, 75, and his former estate agent wife, 70, a pillar of the Ditchling Horticultural Society, suing their neighbours for blocking the right of way. They are demanded they be allowed through to mow the lawn.
Giving evidence at Central London County Court, Mr Dean told Judge Mark Raeside KC that dragging the heavy mower down outside steps at his Sandpit Cottage home – valued online at about £900,000 – always left him with a “few bruises.”
The judge heard the Deans moved into their sprawling village home in High Street, Ditchling, nearly 40 years ago, while Ms White, an “empowerment and wellbeing coach” who also offers “energy healing,” moved into the £500,000 house next door with her partner in 2007.
Ditchling, an affluent Sussex village nestled near the foot of the South Downs, has been labelled a “celebrity magnet,” with famous faces including Zoe Ball, The Snowman creator Raymond Briggs and Dame Vera Lynn having made it their home.
The Deans’ barrister, Michael Ranson, told the court that they had always used a “right of way” over a strip of the neighbouring property’s land to access their front garden.
In their claim against Mr Nathan and Ms White, Mr and Mrs Dean are asking for a court injunction directing that the street gate towards Ditchling High Street be kept unlocked, that new fencing put up by their neighbours be removed, plus a general declaration that “the defendants do not interfere with the exercise of the right of way”.
The trial continues.
