Couple on Holiday See Neighbors Steal Garden in Real Time Via CCTV

Rosa and Murray Bell waited to see their daughter. It had been four years since they last saw her. They planned to spend Christmas with her in Australia. They saw builders working in their garden, which shocked them while they were away.

They watched CCTV footage from Australia. The footage showed their neighbors appearing to take their land. Rosa Bell, 67, and Murray, 72, were stunned as builders removed their fence, dug up the patio, and tore down the shed.

The Bells had a dispute with their neighbors involving the property boundary because they wanted to extend their home. They worried about the neighbors’ gutter. The issue worsened while they visited their daughter, whom they hadn’t seen since before the pandemic.

Neighbors claimed part of the Bell’s garden. Court papers named them as Huy Eng and Michael Myers. They claimed over a meter at one end and 76 cm at the other end.

Rosa said the council and police wouldn’t help; she must pursue the matter in civil court. Surveys had given mixed results on the boundary. Deeds from the 1930s were crude, and the houses were built later, around 1950.

Rosa lost a court bid for damages, but no ruling defined land ownership. Rosa said the situation makes her really stressed out. She and Murray retired to this house, supposed to be their forever home. She said the neighbors took the law into their hands, calling it “a living hell.”

Rosa and Murray bought the house in 2019 for £670,000. It is a three-bed house built in the 1950s, near Epsom Downs. In December 2022, they visited their daughter and saw builders in their garden on CCTV. They were in disbelief.

The neighbors removed the fence, and someone cut down a maple tree. One man cut the branches of her apple tree. A new fence appeared, claiming a new boundary for the neighbors.

Four months passed, and the Bells replaced their original fence. The family went on holiday again. The new fence faced the same fate again; people entered their garden without permission and performed work there.

Rosa recounted watching on camera, seeing everything from far away. She described the neighbors’ actions as teasing, doing one thing, then another since they knew the Bells were far away.

Legal papers mentioned the original fence, where both parties accepted it as the legal boundary. Huy Eng Myers declined to comment, claiming they were harassed and they won a court ruling for damages.