1 in 20 house moves are due to disputes and clashes with neighbours.

1. Good neighbours gone bad…. 1 in 20 house moves are due to disputes and clashes with neighbours. Here are some stories of good neighbours gone bad…

2. John and Theresa Beale are moving from Manaton, Devon after ten years. A neighbour (and parish council member) complained about the noise their Burmese cat Rio made while calling for the company of female cats.

3. The complaint was rejected, but the chairman of the parish council wrote in the local paper about ‘a series of complaints about animal noise spoiling people’s enjoyment of our peaceful village.’

4. The Beales have decided to move, claiming that in a small community, they don’t know who to trust and who will be talking about them behind their back.

5. George McGourty was annoyed when his neighbour’s extension was bigger than expected. His response? He drilled a hole in the wall, pushed through a hosepipe and pumped water in for several hours, flooding the room to a depth of two feet.

6. When his neighbours found the hose, they traced it to McGourty’s property and called the police, who discovered McGourty had built a rabbit hutch to disguise his handiwork.

7. McGourty, who caused £50,000 worth of damage, was sentenced to 260 hours of community service and fined. His neighbours called for him to be imprisoned ‘in the name of justice.’

8. Two neighbours in Greater Manchester fell out over window cleaning. John Byron claims that when his upstairs neighbour, John Trayers, cleans his windows, the ladder blocks Byron’s front door.

9. Initial discussions resulted in Byron locking himself in his own flat, afraid that Trayers would attack him. Mr Byron now refuses to talk to Mr Trayers.

10. Their landlord suggested that Trayers put a note through Byron’s door giving 24 hours notice of when he intends to clean his windows.

11. Trayers’ response: ‘The idea that I will put a note through his door when I want to clean my windows – it just doesn’t happen. I would rather not clean my windows than speak to him or put a note through his door. It is not about cleaning windows. It is all about principles.’