A 77-year-old pensioner has been forcibly evicted from her £420,000 bungalow in Poole, Dorset, following the conclusion of a bitter five-year legal battle with her neighbour over a mere one-foot strip of land. Jenny Field lost her home to court bailiffs after exhausting all legal avenues in a boundary dispute that escalated dramatically, culminating in a six-figure legal bill she could not pay.
The Eviction Scene in a Quiet Cul-de-Sac
At 11am today, bailiffs arrived at Ms Field's property in an otherwise peaceful Poole cul-de-sac to execute the eviction order. The pensioner initially refused to answer the door and was heard shouting at officials to leave her alone. A locksmith was subsequently required to use an electric saw to remove the lock and gain entry to the bungalow.
Ms Field eventually stepped outside in her slippers to explain her position to the bailiffs, after which she was refused re-entry to her own home. She will be permitted to return later to remove her personal belongings, but the property is now expected to be sold to cover the £113,000 legal costs owed to her neighbour, 64-year-old Pauline Clark.
Origins of a Neighbourhood Conflict
The spectacular row erupted in this quiet corner of Dorset over a boundary fence that Mrs Clark erected in 2020. Grandmother Ms Field claimed her neighbour had moved the fence 12 inches onto her land and subsequently hired contractors to have it taken down two months later. She later repositioned the fence to reclaim what she described as her rightful property.
Mrs Clark took her neighbour to court and won the initial case, with Ms Field ordered to cover the cost of the fence removal and two-thirds of Mrs Clark's legal fees, amounting to approximately £21,000. However, Ms Field refused to accept this outcome, leading to multiple return trips to court that sent the total legal bill skyrocketing into six figures.
A Draconian Order as Last Resort
Last September, a county court judge dismissed Ms Field's final appeal – in which she claimed Mrs Clark's case had been fraudulent – as "totally without merit." Judge Ross Fentem gave Ms Field until December 6 to pay the £113,000 bill or face having her home sold from under her to settle the debt.
The judge described the order for sale as a "draconian" last resort but pointed out that Ms Field had been given every opportunity to pay. After the deadline passed without payment, Mrs Clark's solicitors successfully applied for an eviction notice.
Refusal to Accept Legal Reality
Despite the court's clear rulings, Ms Field failed to put her home up for sale and instead besieged the courts with emails and letters insisting her neighbour was in the wrong. She even stuck a sign on her front door stating that any attempt to evict her was invalid and that she was being harassed.
After being removed from her home today, Ms Field repeatedly rang the doorbell and asked to be let back inside. The divorcee, who bought the bungalow in 2016, told reporters: "They've changed the locks and won't let me back in. How can I be evicted for something I haven't done? I have got nowhere else to go. This is my home and my property."
Neighbour's Mixed Emotions
Mrs Clark did not wish to comment directly on today's events, but her son-in-law Matthew Corbin watched the eviction from the front garden of his mother's home. He said: "My mother-in-law has very mixed emotions today. There is relief but she doesn't know what will happen next. It's not nice to see someone get evicted and we wish it didn't come to this."
Mrs Clark's solicitor, Anna Curtis, previously stated that her client believes Ms Field is not liable for these debts. She confirmed there had been no discussion or offer of settlement, no suggestion of refinancing or obtaining equity on the property, and no proper response in relation to the claim.
Financial Reality and Judicial Reasoning
The solicitor noted there was ample equity in Ms Field's property for her to pay the debt and still be able to buy a comfortable retirement property mortgage-free with cash left over. In his judgement last September, Judge Fentem remarked: "This is a very long-running boundary dispute. The defendant has, in various ways, sought to relitigate the original case."
The judge continued: "Her case is fundamentally that the original fence was a boundary fence and that it was entirely on her land. Every attempt to relitigate has failed. She appears to be convinced some form of fraud has taken place. There appears to be no reasoned basis for the allegation."
Judge Fentem concluded: "I have no confidence at all the claimant will be paid what she is owed except by an order for sale. This matter needs resolution, the parties need to find a way of putting the entirety of this dispute behind them. The order for sale is a last resort and Draconian remedy but taking all the factors into account I should make an order for sale in this case."
As Ms Field was seen leaving the cul-de-sac with several bags of possessions, the dramatic conclusion to this five-year saga serves as a stark reminder of how neighbourhood disputes over seemingly small matters can escalate into life-changing legal battles with devastating consequences.
