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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Zahna Eklund

'My neighbours peer over my fence to talk to each other - it ruins my privacy'

A mum who lives between two close friends has been left furious after her two neighbours began talking to one another over her garden fence and impeding on her privacy in the process.

In a post on Mumsnet, the mum explained that the layout of her street means that her garden backs immediately onto the garden of the house opposite hers, and noted that the two neighbours in question live at a diagonal to one another, with one being the house next to hers and the other being in the one opposite.

And because the two neighbours live so close to one another, they have opted to talk over the fences of the houses surrounding them rather than go around the street to visit each other in their homes.

The mum feels as though she has no privacy in her own garden (stock photo) (Getty Images)

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But their decision has angered the mum caught in the middle of their exchanges, as the neighbours - who have to stand on objects to make themselves tall enough to stand above the fences - can see directly into her garden while they chat, meaning she has no privacy to enjoy her own outside space.

In her post, she said: "The houses on my street back into gardens from the people behind with no path in between.

"The issue is with people behind and people next to us. I think they are close friends. They constantly talk in the corner of the fence between mine and theirs. This happens quite a lot so not just a one off.

"The fences are relatively high, about average adult height, but they stand on things to speak to each other over the corner of the fence, or they are shouting over to get each other's attention.

"I was in my garden playing with my dog and I had two people talking at a higher height than me at the corner of our garden. As someone who suffers from social anxiety too, it might be just me (maybe others wouldn't feel so annoyed), but I felt like my privacy was breached."

The mum insists her neighbours also don't move when they see her using her garden, and says she feels as though she never gets to use her own garden because her neighbours are "always in".

She added: "They don't budge when they see me either. because they are stood up high I feel awkward as hell like they can see my whole garden and into my house.

"They are always in too! One side has 6 kids that are all home schooled so they are often talking over the fence too. I wouldn't mind if it was just the kids, to be honest! I feel more awkward with the adults having a conversation.

"I just feel like there's often someone in corner of my garden."

Commenters on the Mumsnet post sympathised with the woman and did their best to offer solutions - including planting a tree in the corner of her garden to give herself some much-needed privacy.

One person said: "Oh I'd hate this! You could buy some bamboo in pots to put in that corner - won't stop them gassing but at least they can't see you/you see them."

While another added: "Can you put a mature tree up? That would drive me bonkers too."

And a third noted: "Massively rude, would really hack me off. You can get clump forming bamboo that doesn’t spread too much. Otherwise a large bushy evergreen, maybe something spiky…"

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