Fence taken down in neighbour dispute

Theresa Richards and Tony Benson at the disputed fence

A fence at the centre of a long-running boundary dispute in south Shropshire has finally been taken down.

A team of bailiffs arrived at Tranquillity Cottage in Hopesay near Craven Arms on Friday morning to serve a writ of possession on Samantha Richards.

The move came after her former neighbour, Tony Benson, was given the right to remove the £500 wire fence and replace it with a wooden one.

Over the last six years, the two neighbours have been embroiled in a bitter dispute over the small plot of land.

Legal bill

There has been more than 30 court hearings in relation to the fence and Ms Richards, 27, spent six weeks at Drake Hall prison in Staffordshire for defying a judge's order to remove the fence

Theresa Richards plans to take her case to Europe

Mr Benson is still paying off the £50,000 legal bill he ran up to enforce the fence's removal.

Ms Richard's mother, Theresa Richards, says the fence was put up legally to stop Mr Benson filling in a ditch, which she claims is flooding her property.

But a court ruled the fence encroached one metre onto Mr Benson's land and it had to come down.

'Human rights'

Mr Benson said he was "relieved" and hoped it would be the end of the matter.

"I hardly dare hope so but it would be nice," he said.

However Mrs Richards says the matter is far from over.

She told BBC's Midlands Today: "The courts sent my daughter to prison unlawfully.

"We will be appealing to the Court of Appeal and will go to Europe. We have got a human rights lawyer."