A former rally driver says he will be left out of pocket despite winning a £200,000 court battle with a neighbour over a hedge between their seaside homes.
asserted
he → say → homes
Ron Channon, 87, told the Daily Mail he did not expect to benefit from High Court and Appeal Court rulings against estate agency boss Sarah Douglas, 57 – after being landed with £300,000 legal fees of his own.
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he → tell → own
The pair have been engaged in a five-year-long dispute over a strip of land separating their properties in Devon resort town Torquay.
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pair → engage → Torquay
Millionaire Mr Channon took part in a 1970 World Cup-themed rally race between England and Mexico that also featured England and Tottenham Hotspur football legend Jimmy Greaves.
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that → take → England
He also worked for decades in insurance and believes that helped him in the case brought against him.
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that → work → him
Ms Douglas was last week left with a £200,000 court bill after losing a court case over the hedge between the feuding pair's seaside homes.
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Douglas → leave → homes
Mr Channon says they have only met twice, once before he bought his home there and once afterwards, and that the court tussle could have been prevented 'over a bottle of wine'.
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tussle → say → wine
Speaking after the verdict to the Daily Mail, Mr Channon told of his dismay that the dispute had dragged on for so long and how he expected to be at least £100,000 down.
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he → speak → dismay
Former rally driver Ron Channon built a fence on what neighbour Sarah Douglas insisted was 'her land', a court heard, but he has since won in their legal dispute
Estate agency boss Sarah Douglas lived in a £700,000 hilltop house described as having far-reaching 'fabulous views' across the Torquay coastline
He said: 'I have no doubt had she acted in a more responsible manner when she and I first met at not one but two face to face meetings, it would have all been resolved over a bottle of wine.
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it → build → wine
She happened to take issue with the wrong guy.'
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She → happen → guy
Mr Channon hopes the case is now over, while saying it 'certainly cost a lot more than the numbers quoted'.
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it → hop → numbers
He added: 'Whether Sarah Douglas will be in a position to meet her costs obligations without selling her house remains to be seen.
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be → add → house
Only time will provide that answer.'
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time → provide → answer
He said his legal costs exceeded £300,000 and he expected to remain down by at least £100,000 despite victory on nine findings under review.
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he → say → review
Ms Douglas moved into her £700,000 hilltop house in 2017, which was described as having far-reaching 'fabulous views' across the coastline of Devon resort town Torquay.
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which → move → town
But the following year she became embroiled in 'an unfortunate boundary dispute' with a different next-door neighbour after he tore out a hedge.
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he → become → hedge
That neighbour later moved out, but the row continued after Ronald Channon, 87 – a former rally driver turned insurance boss – paid £1.4million for a house next door to Ms Douglas in June 2021.
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Channon → move → June
Ronald Channon, a former rally driver turned insurance boss, paid £1.4million for a house next door to Ms Douglas in June 2021
An aerial picture shows Ms Douglas's home at the top and Mr Channon's home below
He promptly erected a new fence on what she insisted was 'her land', a court heard.
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court → turn → fence
The dispute between the pair, both labelled 'strong characters' by a judge, went to court last year.
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both → label → court
The case dealt with a disagreement over where the boundary lay between their two high-end properties.
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boundary → deal → properties
Mr Channon claimed it should run along the line of the stems of the original torn out hedge, meaning the fence would stand on his land.
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fence → claim → land
Ms Douglas said it should follow the line of the hedge's 'southernmost leaf' – meaning it would have been wrongly built in her garden.
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it → say → garden
She lost the case after a judge ruled a boundary following the outside of the hedge would make no sense because it would change according to how bushy the hedge was at any given time.
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hedge → lose → time
Now Ms Douglas has also lost a High Court challenge to an order that she pay most of the legal costs, having to pay more than £200,000 of her neighbour's lawyers' fees on top of her own.
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she → lose → own
Mr Channon, a trained marine engineer who describes himself as a 'man who has done very well in business', said he 'knew the marked boundary where she'd placed stakes was wrong'.
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she → train → stakes
Ms Douglas's home in the Devon resort town of Torquay, where the judge said the properties occupied 'what might be called an idyllic position'
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what → say → Torquay
A next door property to Ms Douglas was bought by Mr Channon for £1.4million in 2021
The rear view from Sarah Douglas's home, with the disputed hedge pictured on the right
He added: 'The hedge was drawn in her original deeds.
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hedge → buy → deeds
We just couldn't find common ground, excuse the pun.
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We → find → pun
He says he only hired lawyers two years into the row when sent a demand for £50,000, saying: 'I've never been dominated by lawyers.'
Mr Channon also says he offered £5,000 to end this 'stupid' saga, 'even though I knew she was wrong,' he added.
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he → say → saga
He also expressed pleasure at the outcome, despite the costs.
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He → express → costs
Mr Channon said: 'I'm actually now looking at my beautiful fence that's cost me a lot of money - it's all I wanted to do from the beginning.'
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I → say → beginning
Ms Douglas, appointed chief executive of Devon estate agency Marchand Petit in 2023, has been contacted for comment.
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Douglas → appoint → comment
Judge Paul Mitchell, at Plymouth County Court, branded the row a 'tragedy', adding: 'This is a wholly unfortunate dispute which, from any objective viewpoint, should plainly not have got to this point.
'
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which → brand → point
Clearly it has caused a significant amount of stress and upset, let alone cost.
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it → cause → stress
This is the Ford car driven by Ron Channon in the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally
Tony Fall (left) and Jimmy Greaves (right) are pictured at Wembley ahead of the 1970 rally
'
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Fall → drive → rally
The properties which the parties respectively occupy are in what might be called an idyllic position, commanding fabulous sea views and should be enjoyed by each party to the maximum.
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what → occupy → maximum
'This dispute has substantially impacted upon the pleasure that each has been able to derive from living in what otherwise should have been something bordering idyllic circumstances.'
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what → impact → circumstances
Judge Mitchell said that the two houses sit on the same road in Torquay, near the top of a hill affording both far-reaching sea views from their rear gardens, with Ms Douglas's property to the north of and higher up than the neighbouring site.
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houses → say → site
In 2018, her then neighbour removed a hedge between the two properties which Ms Douglas insisted belonged to her.
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Douglas → remove → her
She said it had acted to stabilise and retain the stepped-up bank between the two houses.
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it → say → houses
…and 40 more, not listed.
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