Neighbour destroys pensioner's garden fence without warning as 80-year-old left speechless

He said that his 80-year-old mum’s bungalow has a small back garden and a fence separating her property from the neighbours'.

However, he was “shocked” to arrive at the house one day to find the fence destroyed.

He said: “The fence in question was between my mum's garden and her neighbours and was sound and upright.

“It did have ivy growing on it but that was growing up from their side of the fence.

“My mum walks out in her garden one morning to feed the birds and there's a man demolishing the fence.

“He was apparently very nice and told her he'd been hired to do it as her neighbours had decided to replace the fence, she offered him some tea, and that was the end of the interaction.

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“He finished up that day. Fence gone,” he said.

The poster said a couple of months later, one of the neighbours appeared in the 80-year-old’s garden.

She told the pensioner that she would need to pay to replace the fence.

He fumed: “She told my mum that actually the fence was on my mum's property and belonged to her and so my mum is responsible for replacing it.

“My mum didn't really know what to say so said she would have to speak to me.”

The anonymous man continued: “I have tried to speak to them a couple of times when I visit but there's never anyone in as they don't live there and my mum has no contact details for them.

“Is what they're saying correct that my mum is responsible for replacing the fence they demolished? If not what would be the best next legal step?”

He asked other users on Reddit for advice on legal action.

In the comments, sympathetic people offered advice. One said: “Who is responsible for the fence will usually be recorded as a covenant on the title deeds to the property. You can get them only from the Land Registry for about £3.

“To an extent, who the fence belongs to and who is responsible for it is irrelevant. Either it is the neighbour's fence so they have to replace it, or it's your mum's fence in which case they have wrongfully damaged someone else's property and they have to pay to replace it anyway.”

Another agreed, commenting: “This. Even if it was your mum's fence. They've removed it without her permission and now would have to replace it.”

A third fumed: “If it wasn't their fence then they had no right to take it down and should be replacing it.”