A COUPLE who pulled down their neighbours' fence during a bitter boundary dispute have ended up `losing everything' after taking the case to the High Court.

Although only a small amount of land was at stake, Mary Kendrick and John Edwards now face massive lawyers' bills after their appeal against paying legal costs failed.

Lord Justice Dyson said he had `huge sympathy' for the pair who live in Bamber Avenue, Sale Moor.

For over five years, Ms Kendrick and Mr Edwards have been in dispute with their neighbours, Stephen and Barbara Evans, over the boundary line between their semi-detached homes. The row developed after both couples extended their homes into the space between them. The dispute centred on a fence put up by Mr and Mrs Evans in 2003.

Removed

Their neighbours said it did not accurately mark the dividing line, claiming it encroached onto their land. And, when the Evans went on holiday in June 2006, Ms Kendrick and Mr Edwards removed the fence.

Ms Kendrick said they had done so because the fence was `tatty and unsightly' and she hoped that the fence's removal would `provoke constructive discussions' over where the boundary lay. However, the Evans' reaction was to take their neighbours to court and, after a Manchester County Court hearing, Judge Stephen Davies ruled in their favour in July last year.

Judge Davies said of Ms Kendrick and Mr Edwards' `unauthorised and wrongful removal' of the fence: "There was really no justification in the face of what was going on for them in taking that step at a time when they knew there was a dispute over the boundary."

He ruled that the fence had been on the correct boundary line and that Ms Kendrick and Mr Edwards were liable to pay for its reinstatement. He also ordered them to pay £10 `nominal damages' to their neighbours. Ms Kendrick and Mr Edwards were ordered to pay the lion's share of the legal costs, likely to run into tens of thousands of pounds.

Challenged

It was that decision they challenged at London's Civil Appeal Court. Pointing out that she and Mr Edwards had made efforts to settle the dispute before it came to court, Ms Kendrick told Lord Justice Dyson: "We've just lost everything really."

The pair represented themselves during the case. Describing the dispute as `most unfortunate', Lord Justice Dyson said: "I have huge sympathy for them, although I realise that will give them little comfort."

The judge said he could find no legal flaw in Judge Davies' decision to order Ms Kendrick and Mr Edwards to pay the majority of the case's legal costs and refused them permission to appeal.