A man drilled holes in the wall he shares with a neighbouring family because he claims it encroaches on his garden by a couple of inches. The pensioner received a £90 fine for the criminal damage but he has continued his protest by displaying messages outside his house criticising the family – who say the row has left their children "embarrassed to go out".
For a few months Ewen Taylor from Cardiff has been putting wooden placards at the front of his house in the busy Clare Road, Grangetown. The 87-year-old's messages include: "You and your cowboy builder are thiefs [sic]"; "Other councils take down illegle [sic] building work"; "Will they sue me?"; and "Do not like my signs, tell the council". The display shows the street number of the next-door family, who told WalesOnline: "It needs to stop really."
Mr Taylor, a retired bricklayer who has lived in his house for around 50 years, said his anger was sparked in 2020 when the family built an extension in their back yard, removing the garden wall they previously shared and replacing it with a new one – which he claims juts into his own garden. "It's a matter of two inches but it's my property," he said. "Even if it was half an inch I would object."
