AS a certain TV theme tune notes, good neighbours can become good friends.
But should things go sour with the people next door, even the smallest disputes can quickly turn into a nightmare ordeal.
That’s certainly the case for Ann Breen, 71, who was harassed for nine months by her neighbour Kim Porter-Wilson, 46, in Caister-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
Porter-Wilson – who was slapped with a restraining order after the pair appeared in court – took photos of Ann and sounded an alarm whenever she watered her hanging baskets because she didn’t want water splashing on her garden path.
It’s just one of many horrific stories across the UK when it comes to nightmare neighbours. Here, we look at some of the very worst rows…
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Bitten off finger
A six-year row over a fence went from bad to worse when a dad was forced to have his finger amputated after his neighbour James Keir bit it off.
Brian Johnston said his index finger was recovered by police dogs a day later, but it was too late for them to reattach it.
“The police found it and told me basically they couldn’t do anything with it. Dead,” he said on Channel 5’s The Nightmare Neighbour Next Door.
“The day after the assault I had to go to First Valley Hospital and get an operation to partially amputate the finger back to the bone. There is nothing worse than sitting listening to someone crunching back the bone of your finger when you’re in severe pain.”
The neighbours first fell out after Brian became fed up with James' renovations to his 26-room mansion in Reddingmuirhead, Falkirk. They also disagreed over a shared driveway and a hedge.
James was charged with serious assault but was cleared in 2016 after claiming self-defence.
He said the finger “slipped” into his mouth and he bit it.
Smeared dog poo
Last year, Courtney Cobb and her boyfriend Jay Chapman claimed their neighbour smeared dog poo across their front door.
They say the unnamed man carried out the act at their property in Wallsend, North Tyneside, before moving out – something he denies.
Things apparently first became frosty when the couple complained about his smoking and loud music.
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Courtney said she was particularly concerned about the smoking after the birth of their baby daughter, who suffered with breathing difficulties when she was born.
While there was no evidence who did it, they suspected the man due to the disagreements between them.
Northumbria police confirmed they attended the incident but made no arrests.
She said: "We thought we heard someone at our door touching the handle but we thought it's not the postman or anything so we left it.
"A delivery driver came to drop off our food and he was like 'what's that on your door?' and we looked.
"My partner was furious and I was just scared, I was crying.
"I was sitting there with my baby in my arms thinking it's my job to protect her and I feel like I can't even do that.
"I don't even know how that thought would come into someone's head."
The former neighbour said: "I've had nothing but hassle from her, that's why I've moved out. I've done absolutely nothing wrong, they've just caused aggravation unnecessarily.”
Hose attack
In 2019, a couple admitted common assault on their neighbour after spraying him with a hosepipe.
Barry and Hellynne Lee soaked Harold Burrows as he was clearing up garden debris that washed under his gate from their pathway, which was captured on his GoPro video camera.
Ms Lee called Burrows a “moron” and his wife Jean a “witch”.
The pair were given a 12-month conditional discharge and were each ordered to pay £170 in costs.
The Burrows had lived at Cae Fron, Denbigh, for nearly 20 years, but had difficulties with the Lees over a long-running boundary dispute.
Gran from hell
One pensioner went as far as training her pet parrot to torment her next door neighbours.
Catherine Searle “overstimulated” her pet bird by blasting out her television while Paul and Lydia Appleton sunbathed in their garden in Seal, Kent, causing it to make loud noises.
She also threw dog poo in their garden and tampered with their cars following a feud about parking.
Lydia feared for her husband's life and experienced "night terrors" after Searle even placed sharp tacks under the wheels of his van.
She was handed a suspended 70-day prison sentence and restraining orders in 2020.
Lydia said: "People think she's a little old lady, she can't do or is not capable of these things and we're not treated seriously.
"She's continuously finding ways to overstimulate her parrot for days on end by playing the television loudly and is using it as a weapon.
"There is no escaping the very loud piercing noises.
“Searle goes to another room and plays loud music or puts on her TV in another room.
"She even leaves her house, going out, leaving the back door and windows open so the bird noise can be heard wherever we are.
"She waits for us to go into the back garden when we wish to relax and then will put on loud music or the TV to get the bird to perform again.”
Flipping the V-sign
Blacksmith Baron Tremain installed a huge metal hand flipping a V-sign in a bid to annoy a couple who lived next door.
He targeted Lisa Woodcock and her husband James following a row by putting up the two-fingered sculpture at a boundary fence at their homes in the hamlet of Alby Hill, Norfolk.
He was accused of harassment, unwanted conduct and making offensive comments.
The charge of harassment was dismissed, but he was given a restraining order in 2019.
Lisa said at the time: “It was our dream house. All I want, all we want, is to be left alone.
“I just feel distressed and anxious nearly all the time.
“I’ve lost nearly two stone”.
'Ugly' fence
Roy Bentley became so annoyed by his neighbour’s new fence that he put up signs protesting against it.
One read “ugly fence”, while he even renamed his property “ugly fence house” and put a sign up on his car port.
He also sang songs at John and Irene Laws, including the Neighbours theme tune and Don't Fence Me In.
Roy, from South Wootton, Norfolk, had previously had a 30-year friendship with the couple, and even went to their son’s wedding.
"The previous fence was beautiful and covered in honeysuckle but had fallen into disrepair," Bentley said in 2013.
"They decided to put up these modern fences, where one side gets the posts and the other side gets the nice view."
Irene said at the time: "It's a nightmare. It’s not abuse, he's a very clever man, it's just niggling all the time."
