Pensioner evicted from her £420k home after losing court battle over 1ft strip of land vows to continue her legal fight despite being left homeless and forced to spend night on the streets

A pensioner who was evicted from his home after losing a five-year legal battle with his neighbor over a 1ft piece of land has described his life as a ‘nightmare’ after being forced to spend the night on the streets.

Jenny Field, 77, was evicted from her home by bailiffs on Monday after a judge ordered her property to be sold to pay the £113,000 she owes in legal fees to her neighbour, Pauline Clark.

The pensioner was given enough time to pack a few bags of belongings and retrieve his mobile phone before the locks on his £420,000 bungalow in Poole, Dorset, were changed.

Ms Field said she spent Monday wandering around with her belongings before spending the night on the streets.

It has since joined BCP Council offices to try and secure emergency housing.

The grandmother said she was told she had three weeks to move her furniture and belongings before selling the three-bedroom property, which she has owned since 2016.

Despite her predicament and the dismissal of her case against Ms Clark by the courts, Ms Field vowed to continue her legal fight.

He said: ‘This is just a nightmare. I’m waiting to speak to someone from the council about emergency accommodation. This is a long process.

The boundary between Ms Field’s bungalow on the left and her neighbor Pauline Clark’s bungalow on the right is at the center of the five-year dispute

Neighbor Pauline Clark was photographed leaving Bournemouth District Court last September

‘I have 21 days to collect all my belongings or they will take it out and throw it away. But I have nowhere to put it; I have a lot of stuff; I have three bedrooms.

‘I will object to this. I just need to prove it [Mrs Clark] ‘He committed fraud.’

The fight in the cul-de-sac in a normally quiet residential area of ​​Hamworthy, Poole, was at the center of a border fence Ms Clark had erected in 2020.

Ms. Field, who is divorced, claimed that in doing so, her neighbor moved the fence 12 inches onto her property.

Two months later, he hired his own contractors and had the 6-foot fence torn down. He then relocated it to reclaim his ‘land’.

Mrs. Clark took him to court and won; Ms Field agreed to cover the costs of the fence she demolished and two-thirds of Ms Clark’s legal fees (about £21,000 at the time).

But Ms Field refused to accept the outcome and the case went to court multiple times, causing the legal bill to soar into six figures.

Last September a district court judge said Ms Field’s claims that Ms Clark’s case was fraudulent were ‘completely unfounded’ and ordered her house to be sold.

He was given until December 6 to pay the £113,000 bill or his house would be sold off his hands to clear the debt.

Judge Ross Fentem said the ‘draconian order’ was a last resort but Ms Field had every opportunity to pay the price.

After the deadline passed, Ms. Clark’s lawyers successfully applied for an eviction notice.

Ms Field failed to put her house up for sale and instead besieged the courts with emails and letters suggesting her neighbor was at fault.

She hung a sign on her front door stating that any attempt to evict her was invalid and that she was being harassed.

Ms Field was heard shouting at bailiffs to leave her alone before a locksmith used a chainsaw to remove the lock and enter the property.

Ms Field evicted after refusing to accept Ms Clarke’s legal victory at the border

The retiree will be allowed to return home to collect his belongings

The bungalows overlook the tree-lined green area on a quiet cul-de-sac.

After being evicted from her home, Ms Field repeatedly rang the doorbell and asked to be let in.

Ms Clark’s lawyer, Anna Curtis, said Ms Field had enough equity in her estate that she could pay off her debt and buy a comfortable mortgage-free retirement property with cash left over.

Giving his judgment at Bournemouth County Court last September, Judge Fentem said: ‘This is a very long-standing boundary dispute. Accused [Ms Field] He attempted to re-litigate the original case through various means.

‘Her situation is basically… the original fence was a boundary fence and it was entirely on her land.

‘Every attempt to re-litigation has failed. He seems convinced that some kind of fraud has been committed. There seems to be no basis for the claim.

‘There is no evidence in the documents that any crime has been committed.

‘I have no confidence in the plaintiff’ [Mrs Clark] Except for the sales order, the debt owed to him will be paid.

‘This issue needs resolution, the parties need to find a way to put this entire dispute behind them.

‘A sales order is a last resort and a draconian solution, but in this case I must place a sales order taking all factors into account.’