Couple forced to sell family home in legal row over fence

A DAD jailed in a neighbours' fence dispute has been told to sell his family home to pay £475,000 court bills.

-  Paul Keogh

Mark Coates and his wife Louise fought for years with Janice Turner and Brian Greenwood after moving to a countryside semi in 2015.

Rows over the site of a fence and ownership of a track became a "bitter, aggressive" dispute, a court heard.

Each couple said the other had surveillance cameras while Mr Coates, a carer for his disabled son, was found to have sworn and thrown stones at his neighbours' bedroom window.

Both pairs were warned when they first reached court in 2020 that the row could end in financial ruin and Mr Coates, 56, spent nearly seven weeks in jail for contempt of court.