A BUILDER whose life was made hell by a nightmare neighbour for two years has had to have part of his skull removed after suffering two massive strokes within a few minutes.

Andy Claridge has says he is lucky to be alive following the two massive episodes. 

Doctors were forced to take part of his skull out in a hemicraniectomy in a bid to relieve swelling on his brain.

Mr Claridge was at home in Chinook, Highwoods, with his wife Irena last month when he suffered the strokes and said his wife’s intervention almost certainly saved his life.

He said: “I was lucky she was at home at the time to call the ambulance or I would not have made it.

“If she had been working I would probably have died.

“I’m very lucky to be alive.”

In February, David Grothier was handed a ten month jail term for threatening the Claridges with a 20cm kitchen knife following a row over a CCTV camera after already admitting damaging the cameras the previous September.

Gazette: 10/08/11 possible eviction, grothier family, david, sarah, daniel,2, joshua,3 and stacey,4

Jailed - David Grothier

But just weeks later, having served much of his sentence while on remand awaiting trial, he was back living metres away from the couple despite a ban on him contacting them.

In March, arsonist Grothier shoved two flaming garden stakes through the letterboxes of flats belonging to two other neighbours.

Having initially denied starting the fire, Grothier was found guilty of arson and arson with intent to endanger life for the incident which saw a number of pets die.

He was jailed for nine years at a hearing in November, and Mr Claridge had initially planned to attend having given evidence in the trial.

But he had booked a getaway before the date was confirmed and was set to miss it before he suffered the strokes.

He said: “We were going to miss the sentencing because we had booked a holiday and were going to be in Malta.

“But on the evening of November 13 I just went loopy – to be honest I cannot remember much about the day.

“Initially I was taken to Colchester General Hospital but I then had to be transferred to a specialist stroke unit where I was out of it for 16 days.”

More than a month after the debilitating incident, Mr Claridge, 54, was allowed to return to his Colchester home on Friday.

Devoted wife Irena was working over the Christmas period so Mr Claridge spent the festive period relaxing at home.

Mr Claridge admitted the stress he has gone through may have contributed to it.

He said: “I think it is all to do with him.

“I have been constantly stressed over the last two years.

“The first time we went to court he was sentenced and then within days he was back living underneath us.

“Then we saw him set light to those other flats.”

Remarkably, Mr Claridge is able to walk and talk and is trying to get back to a more normal routine despite some weakness in his right side, fatigue and some memory problems.

He added: “I can’t work or drive at the moment and it is going to be months before I am able to do either.

“I have always been physically fit and healthy.

“I’ve broken arms and things but never anything like this.

“I’m a self employed builder and you need to be in decent health to do it for as long as I have.”