Mum fumes as ‘creepy’ neighbour puts gate in garden fence so he can access her property

A woman has been left outraged by her ‘creepy’ neighbour after he secretly installed a gate in the fence that borders their gardens – so he can use her outside space

A mum has expressed her outrage after she noticed her neighbour had secretly installed a gate in the fence that separates their gardens without telling her. The woman claimed her neighbour put the gate in an area of the fence that is obscured on her side by a large bush so that she wouldn’t see it, and said it had been there for some time before she eventually noticed it.

She also claimed that she was told about the situation by another neighbour who informed her that he had put the gate in place in order to “get in her garden” and use her outside space for himself.

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In a Mumsnet post, she wrote: “My neighbour’s fence which borders our garden boundary blew down in a storm and when he replaced it, he secretly put in a gate in behind a bush.

“He told another neighbour about it and he came and told us he said to him ‘between you and me, I have put a gate in the fence so I can get in their garden anytime’. He has never previously asked to enter our garden, but this is a step too far.

“Can he do this? It is creepy to think he has done this and he has gone to great lengths to disguise it. This is causing me a great deal of anguish, hence I here writing for advice.”

The mum also returned to the post – which was initially made in 2018 but has recently resurfaced – to claim that her neighbour is a “very intimidating man”, but said she hadn’t had any problems with him up until he decided to give himself access to her garden.

And other commenters also said they’d be “fuming” if their neighbour did the same to them, and encouraged the woman to seek legal advice.

One person said: “Bloody hell. I’d be fuming”

While another added: “The most rational advice I can think is just going to talk to this guy. Say you’ve noticed the gate, ask why he had it put in and see what he says. And tell him he needs to pay to get rid of it.”

And a third said: “Check your home insurance policy to see if you have legal expenses cover. If you do then call and ask about legal advice through them.”

The woman later posted an update in which she said she had spoken to her neighbour, who had agreed to remove the gate and put a regular fence panel back in.

She explained: “My neighbour has now returned the fence to a fence without a gate. After taking some advice, he was approached and politely but firmly told he must restore to the original state.

“He was also told that this situation and his secrecy could be seen by the householder (me) as creepy and underhand, and could possibly come across as a peeping Tom situation.

“He came to apologise to me and he shed a few tears for the situation. I wasn’t moved by his tears but hopefully, he now knows he cannot come into my garden without consent at any time.”

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