A DISPUTE with a parish council over a fence could cost a surveyor about £50,000.

Ian Keath’s row with East Bergholt Parish Council became so acrimonious, at one point he was arrested for chopping down two trees he believed were on his land.

The police did not to take any further action over the incident in 2006, but the row over property rights continued.

The dispute broke out after Mr Keath, of Upper Fourth Avenue, Frinton, bought a property called Tree Tops next to East Bergholt cemetery in 1999.

Despite parish council objections, he was given planning permission to build a new home at the site.

The council then objected that an old fence encroached on to the cemetery. Mr Keath said the fence had been in the same place since at least 1991.

He claimed squatters rights over the land.

The parish council went to court to force Mr Keath to move the fence.

After a hearing at Ipswich County Court Judge Thompson said Mr Keath had not deliberately moved the fence, but came down in favour of the council.

At London’s Appeal Court on Monday, Mr Keath’s lawyers argued Judge Thompson had misinterpreted the evidence and Mr Keath had “inherited” the curved boundary line.

Lord Justice Rimer refused Mr Keath permission to appeal.

The ruling means Mr Keath will have to move the fence and also faces legal costs estimated at about £50,000.

Lord Justice Rimer heard Mr Keath may not wish to remain in East Bergholt, after what Judge Thompson described as a “very bitter dispute”.