Micheldever woman upset over dispute with neighbour over thatched wall

Ms Patricia Walker, of Duke Street, said that her disagreement with her next-door neighbour James Weaver started approximately two-and-a-half years ago after some thatch he had installed on their connecting wall in 2011 started to show signs of disrepair.

She said that loose straw from the thatch has been blown all over her garden and that it had led to an increase of rats on her property, with a few even finding their way into her house.

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The 86-year-old told the Chronicle: "I moved here in 2010. Mr Weaver next door approached me and asked me if it would be okay if he thatched that wall – I said it would be okay if it was maintained. He was maintaining it for a short while by putting rat poison and stuff in tubes in the straw. And he stopped doing it.

The collapsing thatch on the wall has blown into Ms Walker's garden (Image: Newsquest)“Two-and-a-half years ago it started to collapse and I approached him and asked him if he would get it repaired. His answer to me was ‘When the thatcher’s got time’. No progress was made whatsoever.

“My argument is that man is doing nothing to help me or alleviate what is going on there, and I did ask him to move that thatch off the wall if he wasn’t going to repair it.”

Ms Walker also said that she was concerned about a large tree on Mr Weaver’s property which overhangs her house and garden. She said that several branches from the tree had fallen into her garden and that moss from the tree in the winter makes the path outside her bungalow slippery, in one instance causing her to fall over and exasperate pre-existing mobility issues.

She added: “I would like to see that thatch wall taken off, that’s the most important thing, and some of the branches cut off the side of that tree.

A large tree on Mr Weaver's property overhangs Ms Walker's garden, as well as the path outside her house and part of Duke Street (Image: Newsquest)SEE ALSO: Kings Walk shop owners give their views on completed refurbishment

“That tree should not be there, it’s too big, too dangerous, and I don’t know if he has a preservation order on it, but as far as I’m concerned it’s a danger and I dread going outside my door in case it brings down overhead electric cables.”

Mr Weaver told the Chronicle: “The thatch is being replaced imminently, and it has been booked since October. I spoke to the thatcher yesterday, and he is coming – as we know, thatchers are in demand.

“We’re blessed with a very lovely part of the world, the thatch has been there for 15 years, and is now being replaced, at my full expense.”

Mr Weaver also said that he had tree trimmed back by a professional tree surgeon.