Warring neighbours have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on a six-year legal battle over the positioning of a bridleway between their properties.
The dispute began when cancer specialist Dr Dawn Carnell and her husband David Moore allegedly took down right-of-way signs that allowed the public to wander through the driveway and paddock of their home in the tiny Hertfordshire village of Little Berkhamsted.
Furious locals say they then locked gates the following year, preventing ramblers, horse-riders and residents from using a route that had been open to them for at least 100 years.
The resulting bad blood has led to police involvement over claims of criminal damage and harassment.
Warring neighbours have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on a six-year legal battle over the positioning of a bridleway between their properties. Pictured is the Moores home
Warring neighbours have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on a six-year legal battle over the positioning of a bridleway (pictured) between their properties
David Moore, pictured, and his wife allegedly took down right-of-way signs that allowed the public to wander through the driveway and paddock of their home
It has also seen two neighbours spending around £50,000 each on legal action including attempting to gain easements, which would allow them to continue using the bridleway.
Meanwhile, Dr Carnell, 57, and her husband, 61, have forked out £250,000 so far on their legal case, which included fighting – and losing – a hearing involving Hertfordshire County Council where they claimed the route should go between two nearby cottages.
The costs are set to rise further as they are now preparing for their case to be heard by a planning inspector later this year.
Mr Moore, who runs an oncology firm with his wife, said: Its horrific. Weve suffered criminal damage to our property. Someone broke the sign at the bottom, the sign for our house.
Someone tried to smash the gates in. Cars have been scratched and gates have been broken.
My daughters been followed to the petrol station. She moved out of the house after that incident.
Meanwhile neighbour Sue Williams, a retired commander with the Metropolitan Police, and her husband Wayne Morris, a retired Met inspector, insisted they were in the right.
It is frustrating and has cost us a lot of money, said Mrs Williams.
I was in charge of criminal justice for the Met. My integrity is very high. I was in the Met for 40 years.
Sue Williams with one of her horses she has to walk on the road now that theres no access to the Bridleway
Mr Moore and his wife have closed a gate and put up signs warning people not to come in. Locals say garden waste has been piled up against the fence to act as an added barrier
Wayne Morris, a retired Met inspector says he was reported by Mr Moore and Dr Carnell to the standards committee
Mr Morris pointing at the bridleway as shown on the 1924 map
Someone said to me Youve dealt with all those criminals. Why is this getting to you?
Its because its professional people. They came to my birthday party.
Her husband, who is chairman of the parish council, says he was reported by Mr Moore and Dr Carnell to the standards committee about a conflict of interest because of his role on the authority and his involvement in the dispute about the bridleway.
I have spent my life in public service and voluntary service. I was a police officer for 32 years.
The couple gave up on their expensive battle for an easement but the other neighbours involved in the dispute, who didnt want to be named, succeeded.
The woman, a 52-year-old compliance manager, said: In 2019, we noticed when we came back from holiday there was a sign that used to be in the hedge saying Bridleway 18 that had been removed.
Then, after that, we started seeing signs saying private property. In January 2020, they locked everything, all the gates.
We could no longer get from the front of our house to the back garden. We had to go through the house.
Mr Moore and his wife, who works at University College Hospital in London, bought near derelict Breach House for £1.2 million in 2015 and moved in after fixing problems including damp, leaks, subsidence and drainage issues.
They say there was never any evidence of a bridleway and if they had known about it, they wouldnt have bought the detached 1920s property, which sits in an acre of land.
Neighbour Sue Williams, a retired commander with the Metropolitan Police, claims this is the correct route of the bridleway
The legal dispute has stemmed from the bridleway taking another route on a different map
But Mrs Williams and other residents say they had used the route for decades.
The confusion revolves around definitive maps of the area that date back a century and were drawn up by the council.
The first, from 1924, showed the bridleway running through Breach House - but when it was redrawn in 1957 the route was accidentally placed between two nearby cottages.
In September 2021, following a 12-month investigation by officers, the councils development control committee ruled the bridleway still ran through Breach House - with one councillor saying it was inconceivable the owners didnt realise this was the case.
Nearly 200 people also wrote to the council confirming they had used the route for decades.
In 2022, Mr Moore was accused of harassment by the neighbour who asked not to be named after he tried to stop her from using the bridleway.
He said: It was probably a good six weeks to two months later before they [the Crown Prosecution Service] dropped it.
I went to Stevenage Magistrates Court and I pleaded not guilty. I was standing in the dock. I was there with drug dealers.
He and Dr Carnell have exercised their right to appeal to the Planning Inspectorate about the councils decision, leading to the hearing in December.
But there will be more legal action after that, as they plan to sue the council over the mix-up and have launched a judicial review.
A council spokeswoman said: Until the outcome of the case is decided, it would be inappropriate for us to comment on the detail.