An accountant has been ordered to pay £60,000 compensation to his neighbours after being locked into a dispute over his "selfish" parking.
Ivan Soares, 53, had been at war with his neighbours over a "few feet” of parking space since 2015.
The Kothari family next door always complained of consistent bad parking.
Bindu Kothari, her husband Sandip and brother-in-law Manish claimed their neighbour had frequently boxed them in by parking inches from their car, blocked their west London cul-de-sac and obstructed their garage.
When Mrs Kothari asked Mr Soares to move his car so she could get to work, he said: "Not my problem," in a manner which a judge has now branded "high-handed and insulting."
Mr Soares and his wife Sunita have now been told to pay out £60,090 compensation at Central London County Court after Judge Jane Evans-Gordon said his parking behaviour was a form of "bullying."
The row, which has racked up over £100,000 in lawyers' bills, revolved around three car parking spaces outside the neighbours’ homes in Harefield, two owned by Mr and Mrs Soares and a third in between them owned by the Kotharis.
In the past, Mr and Mrs Soares had allowed a "swap" arrangement, whereby they parked their vehicles in the two adjacent spaces on the left, with the Kothari's using the space on the right.
The couple said that was a "sensible" thing to do as it allowed them to park their cars together in front of their house, with their neighbours parking closest to their own house and garage.
However, the arrangement fell apart following allegations of inconsiderate parking.
In September 2018, Mr and Mrs Soares "revoked" the swap agreement.
In 2021, a judge ruled that Mr and Mrs Soares validly revoked the swap arrangement.
Mr and Mrs Soares took their neighbours to court again last week demanding compensation saying the Kotharis "trespassed" on their land by continuing to park in the space for nearly two years after the swap arrangement ended.
The Kothari's then countersued and sought compensation for their neighbours' bad parking, which they said had harmed the value of their property.
The Kothari's claimed they ended up getting so penned in by Mr Soares’ selfish parking manoeuvres that Mrs Kothari couldn’t even get into her car.
She told the judge how her neighbour had routinely reversed his car towards her vehicle’s space, “getting closer and closer to her car until they are all but touching”.
And she said she had not used the middle space, which belongs to her family, since July 2022 "for fear of being boxed in" by their neighbour.
Mr Soares had also at times left the couple's car parked at the main road end of the cul-de-sac, “causing an obstruction”, as well as blocking access to the Kotharis’ garage.
The Kothari's claimed the value of their £750,000 home has been slashed due to the impact of their neighbours’ oppressive parking, with an estate agent telling them the problems would have to be disclosed to potential purchasers and could reduce the sale value by up to 10 per cent.
Giving judgment, Judge Evans-Gordon said a police officer who had attended the road over the dispute had described Mr Soares' parking as "selfish and unnecessary."
Having reversed until his vehicle was very close to Mrs Kothari's, he had turned his wheels towards her car before leaving, said the judge.
Branding Mr Soares’ parking "high-handed, insulting and oppressive,” the judge added: "This is exemplified by the evidence given by Mrs Kothari, who told me that when she couldn’t access her car she asked Mr Soares to move his car because she couldn’t get to work, but he said ‘that’s not my problem’ - and refused to move his car.
"There is no better example of high-handed and insulting behaviour."
She awarded the Kothari's £60,090 to compensate them for their neighbours' trespassing on their space, damage done to their parking area and for the reduction in the value of their house caused by the dispute.
She said: "Given the claimant’s behaviour - which amounts to bullying - a potential purchaser might be fearful of repeat incidents. Hence the reduction in value."
On top of awarding compensation to the Kothari's, the judge slapped a series of injunctions on Mr and Mrs Soares, barring them from straying onto their neighbours’ parking space or in front of their garage.
Ruling in favour of Mr and Mrs Soares on their claim, the judge awarded them £2,530 trespass damages from the Kothari's for their continued use of the right-sided parking space after the "swap agreement" was ended.
The judge also accepted that the Kotharis had in the past "obstructed" their neighbours' turning circle through parking.
But she declined to grant an injunction banning this conduct because she was “not satisfied there’s been any obstruction of that turning circle for some years”.
The Kotharis must pay Mr and Mrs Soares’ legal costs in bringing their trespass claim, while Mr and Mrs Soares must pay for their neighbours’ costs in bringing their counterclaim.
A separate judge will have to assess the precise amount of costs each side has to pay up.
