Thomas and Rebekah Entwistle were having the time of their lives. The couple had just got married and when they came back to their home from their honeymoon what they saw made them believe that they were in a horror movie. In order to buy this house they had saved up for so long and now they couldn’t understand what had happened.
To start from the beginning. Thomas and Rebekah were music teachers and really in love with each other. They were the perfect couple! Thomas was 27 years old and Rebekah 24. They decided to get married in 2017 and after their wedding, they left city life in order to find a quieter place. So, what came to their mind was Blackburn which was in Lancashire. At first, they couldn’t find anything that suited them until one day when something magical happened.
One day they found the house of their dreams. They could imaging spending their whole life there and they knew that this was the one. Also, the view was breathtaking. However, they knew that it wouldn’t be cheap as it had a garden, four bedrooms and it was two stories. But despite that, they weren’t willing to back down. this house would be theirs and they had a plan for that.
After working hard, the couple gathered the mortgage for the $290,000 home, and in December 2017 the house was theirs! Once they moved in they decided that it was time for their honeymoon, so they went for 11 days in n the Dominican Republic and had the time of their lives! They relaxed and had so much fun and nothing could have prepared them for what they would face once they come back to England.
When the couple returned from their honeymoon and went to their new home, what they saw shocked them! Somehow, someone had built a giant six-foot-high fence around their house while they were gone in 11 days! How could this be possible? The couple went inside their home really frustrated especially because they had to wait till the morning in order to start making phone calls and learn more about the fence.
The saddest part about the fence was that it was so tall that blocked all the amazing view unless the couple was on the second floor. “This was our dream home and now it’s turned into a nightmare – it feels like we’re imprisoned in our own house,” Thomas claimed. However, the answers they took from the phone calls weren’t very encouraging.
The man behind the fence was David Preece and he owned a farm named Upper Mickle Hay Farm which was nearby the couple’s dream house. But why did he do that? Neither Thomas nor Rebekah could find a reasonable answer to that. However, when they found the truth behind the fence their jaws dropped.
What they found later on shocked them. the company which had sold the house to them didn’t inform them that they were in a land border dispute with David Preece. Now the only thing they could do is fight back the farmer in order to take back their home. They had to think of something and quickly.
At first, Rebekah and Thomas were shocked and they didn’t know how to handle the situation as cases like this one might take even years to be sold and the couple had spent almost all of their money for this house and its view. They were afraid that this situation might break them.
The situation was taking the best of the couple. Rebekah would cry every time she saw the fence and she only stayed on the second floor. On the other hand, Thomas was more furious than sad. he had to do something! he couldn’t stand watching his wife being miserable in the first year of marriage. So, he decided to contact a lawyer.
What the lawyer told Thomas wasn’t very encouraging. It seems that he couldn’t much legally. He could tear down the fence but the farmer had every right to built it back up. So Thomas had to think of something else.
Rebekah was in a very bad psychological condition due to all of this and couldn’t stand living in this house anymore. So, one day she just packed her things and went to her parents leaving Thomas all alone. Thomas didn’t know what to do. he wasn’t sure if he wanted to leave the battle or sell the house and move. However, there was another problem. Who would buy the was with that fence? The situation seemed unbearable, but one day a glimpse of hope was born.
Thomas tried very hard to find someone who could help him with the situation until one day he found Sylvia Liddle who was a local councilwoman. Once Thomas described her the situation she looked shocked and she asked him if she could see the fence with her own eyes. She claimed that they had to contact and ask for help from the Persimmon Homes, but the answer they got was devastated.
The Persimmon Homes denied helping Thomas claiming that they didn’t build on land the farmer-owned. They said that the fence was illegal and that they would take care of it. However, Thomas couldn’t believe them as they hadn’t done anything since the fence appeared for the first time.
Thomas started feeling abandoned by everyone as no one was helping him to solve the problem. However, Sylvia Liddle wasn’t ready to lose this battle. She constantly tried to pressure the local authorities to take the matter into their hands and due to her commitment to it, she finally managed something!
Finally, Sylvia Liddle managed to make local authorities investigate the situation. Thomas was really anxious and couldn’t believe that there might be a chance to get back his dream house. He knew that this would be their last chance and he was hanging on the edge of his seat. Finally, after long discusses someone had an answer for Thomas.
After hearing the answer, Thomas almost fainted. It seems that the fence was illegal as the land was owned by Persimmon Homes. He couldn’t believe that after so much time he would win this battle. Now the only thing left was to tear down the illegal fence!
Finally, Persimmon Homes came and tore down the fence. “Our staff have taken down the fence after consultation with council planning officials,” a company spokesperson said. “I’m delighted for this young couple who have been so distressed,” Sylvia Liddle commented. However, Rebekah and Thomas were still a bit scared.
Even though Thomas and Rebekah celebrated the tearing down of the fence they were afraid that the farmer would put it back despite the fact that they had the council’s decision in their favor. Moreover, they were afraid the angry farmer would think of something else to bother them.
No one knew who David Preece really was and the couple was very anxious about his next move. They had taken “his” land and he must have been furious. They didn’t know if he would try to get back at them.
The story with the fence became viral and many had some advise to give in order to avoid similar situations. “Don’t buy a house built several feet from a property line. Life’s lessons are never free. The farmer is probably thinking, you wreck my view with the huge homes built on your legal property, then I’ll repay you by building a 6ft tall fence on my property,” someone said.
“To put that fence up he must have trespassed on their land numerous times when he was erecting it. I’m sure he hasn’t got the time or money to pay for fences every five minutes. If he comes back and starts to build it again, then film him with commentary stating how many times he’s stepped over your boundary and then ring the police.” “Now they won’t do anything, because you know they are the police and you’ve more chance of them tasering a child for scrumping. However, it builds a legal case against the farmer. Go to your solicitor and get a restraining order put on him for harassment,”Foldy, an English commenter stated.
“The farmer is being very spiteful to total strangers! Who knows what his problem is but I feel for these people. There was already a fence there but he put up his just to block the view from the front windows.” “How horrible and he doesn’t even know them!! Sad how mean people are to each other,” someone commented .
“A guy I used to work with moved into a house on a Friday and on Saturday morning woke up to find that the whole house from top to bottom had been splattered in manure by a local farmer using a muck spreader,” someone said wanted to share his own story. “He went to the farmer to ask what happened. The farmer opened the door and said ‘sorry, I didn’t know the last people had sold it and moved out.’ I used to think farmers (a lot of them) were honorable, but my experience of living in the countryside and having to deal with their underhanded ways has me thinking differently about them now,” he added.
“The fence seems to have been erected more out of spite than anything else. How cowardly and despicable of the farmer to take his dispute with the builders out on the people who just happened to buy the property. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the argument — and there are possibly merits on both sides — it has nothing to do with the purchaser,” a commenter stated “The farmer should dismantle this eyesore immediately and start talking in a mature, adult way with the people that he actually has the problem with, instead of taking it out on a completely innocent couple who have just got caught in the middle,” he continued.
Thankfully now that their adventure is over, the couple can finally live happily ever after.
