Nunthorpe dad-of-two hit with £2k court bill over garden fence

A Teesside householder has been fined after a dispute with a council over his garden fence.

Philip Hardy erected a wooden boarded fence of more than one metre in height, which was said to have contravened highway regulations. Teesside Magistrates' Court heard that the fence at Hardy’s home in Kirkham Road, Nunthorpe, had the effect of hindering visibility for approaching traffic.

The Middlesbrough man was warned about the height of the fence and required to reduce it, but denied matters leading to a trial. Hardy told the court that he had subsequently paid a contractor to cut the fence back, but the case hinged on whether a letter from the council threatening enforcement action had been served on him.

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Magistrates said they had been provided with photographic evidence that the notice, which gave Hardy 60 days to respond otherwise be summoned to court, had been hand delivered to the address on November 14, 2023, and subsequently found him guilty. The defendant said he had tried to make an appointment with the planning authority following a visit from an officer and asserted the height of the fence was exactly the same as some of his neighbour’s fences.

He said: “I don’t know why it [the case] has got this far. There are three fences in the road exactly the same as mine.”

Hardy added: “I don’t think I have done anything wrong to be truthful with you, that is my honest opinion.” Morgan Brien, prosecuting on behalf of Redcar and Cleveland Council, disputed Hardy’s claim that the fence had been reduced in height, using a wheelie bin pictured in a later photo as a comparison.

The court heard that matters had been “aggravated” by the length of time that had passed, due to the defendant’s actions which resulted in a trial. He was fined £180 and ordered to pay the council’s £1,972 court costs.

Hardy, who said he had two children, described being unemployed and on disability benefit with magistrates agreeing the total could be paid at the level of £20 a month. Mr Brien said the guilty finding “did not allow him [Hardy] to keep the fence as it is” and also suggested further action could be taken if the authority was not satisfied.

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