By Sohaib Shams
A railway expert and his partner have failed to claim ownership of a strip of their neighbours' garden after a tribunal ruled they had not occupied the land long enough to establish squatters' rights.
Dispute over a 1.4-metre wedge
Dr Piers Connor, a railway operations specialist who advised on the Channel Tunnel project, and Prof Christine Pasquire clashed with their neighbours, GP Dr Dawn Moore-Elphick and her husband Richard, over a tapering 1.4-metre wedge of land in Kirby Bellars, Leicestershire. The dispute began in 2017 when Connor and Pasquire hired contractors to lay a block-paved driveway across the disputed strip to improve access to a horse paddock they own.
Adverse possession claim rejected
The couple argued they had gained adverse possession of the land, requiring unchallenged physical possession for at least 10 years and a genuine belief it was theirs. Representing themselves at the First-tier Tribunal, they claimed that regular vehicle passage, including wing mirrors crossing the strip, constituted possession. Judge Ewan Paton dismissed the claim, finding they had only been in factual possession since the 2017 paving.
Judge's ruling
The judge concluded the case was essentially about access rather than title, and that the applicants had made the wrong application. He directed the Chief Land Registrar to reject their registration bid. The Moore-Elphicks had previously threatened to cut through and remove the section of paving encroaching on their garden.
