A self-styled aristocrat says she is planning further action against her landlords after courts dismissed her claim over rent at a 300-year-old home.
Lady Patricia Ramshaw - a sex therapist who was bought her title as part of a burlesque act - lost a rent repayment battle after moving into the stunning Norfolk Broads house which had no central heating and was ridden with damp.
A claim of harassment against the landlords was also dismissed in the tribunal, which has been dubbed "Britain's poshest rent row".
Lady Ramshaw accused Jane Cator, whose son Sam Cator is the property's listed landlord, of spying on her from a nearby church tower, as well as incorrectly advertising the home as being heated.
The Cators meanwhile, who are one of the area's biggest land owners with connections to the royal family, claimed in response that Lady Ramshaw breached the terms of her tenancy by moving in with "over 50 animals", including two horses, 12 sheep, two pigs, a goat, ducks and hens.
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The Cators accused Lady Ramshaw of breaching tenancy rules over her numerous animals, including two horses (Lady Patricia Ramshaw / SWNS)
Lady Pea has rented the period home since winter 2021 (Newsquest / SWNS)The large number of animals, the Cators said, damaged parts of the home's seven acres after they were allowed to graze under trees during last year's heatwave.
Lady Ramshaw, who also goes by 'Pea', moved into Old House in winter 2021, finding there was no integrated heating system and that some of the walls were damp-ridden.
The Cators refunded her a £13,000 heating bill amassed that winter, as well as £4,500 in rent.
The two parties were negotiating her finishing her tenancy early and Lady Ramshaw said she was set to move out that summer in 2022, having gathered her animals from different stables onto the land to move the same week in June.
However the Cators then went back on the agreement to end her tenancy early with a rent refund after getting in touch with an ex-partner of Ramshaw's.
Whilst Judge Evans denied Ramshaw's right to a rent refund, he did acknowledge that the Cator family had altered a deal with Lady Ramshaw after speaking with her ex-partner.
Lady Ramshaw, 54, later took the aristocratic family to court for a rent refund of £28,538, claiming the house was uninhabitable and below the legally-required minimum efficiency rating.
She requested more than £28,000 in rent repayments over the property's lack of central heating and damp (Newsquest / SWNS)In the latest ruling, tribunal judge Stephen Evans dismissed her claim meaning she will not receive the refund.
Judge Evans also criticised the case being taken to a tribunal - saying it could have been settled in a county court - but criticised the Cator family for making contact with her ex-partner.
"It is unfortunate for the applicant [Lady Ramshaw] that the contact [with her ex] had the effect of causing the respondent [Sam Cator] to change the terms of his offer of surrender."
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Speaking to The Mirror, Lady Ramshaw said that she was unsurprised by the ruling, but was now planning further action against her landlord.
The period home is thought to be one of the finest in the Norfolk Broads (Newsquest / SWNS)"If the rent repayment order achieved anything for me, it's given me information I would otherwise have never found out," she said.
Legal documents from the case showed the landlords had contact with an ex-partner of hers, with Lady Ramshaw describing this as "disgraceful" and putting her in "a vulnerable position".
"I'm taking further action against the landlord for the condition of the property, which was uninhabitable, for not re-paying me and for contact made with my ex," Lady Ramshaw.
At time of the ruling, Lady Ramshaw remains at the property and says she cannot afford to leave the tenancy early without the rent repayment agreement.
The Cators were approached for comment.
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