A couple bought their dream home without realising a public bridleway ran through it because of a council blunder when official maps were drawn up, they told a planning inquiry.
Cancer specialist Dr Dawn Carnell, 57, and husband David Moore, 61, bought Breach House for more than £1million almost 10 years ago, before ploughing more money into renovating the dilapidated property.
But they have been locked in a long-running and expensive legal battle with locals, who say a public right of way has run through the couple’s drive and paddock for at least 100 years.
Dr Carnell and Mr Moore insist the path passes through two cottages to the west of their home in the leafy Hertfordshire village of Little Berkhamsted.
They had already spent around £250,000 on various legal tussles before using the planning inquiry to appeal against a county council decision that backed locals.
At the start of the four-day hearing this week, the council admitted a decades-old error had been repeated in nine editions of the official map.
Senior definitive map officer Gavin Harbour-Cooper revealed the authority looked into the matter in 1956 and concluded the bridleway ran through Breach House.
But when the first ‘definitive map’ of the area was drawn up three years later – a document used by conveyancing solicitors prior to the purchase of a property – it showed the ‘wrong route’, with the path going between the neighbouring cottages.
A couple bought their dream home without realising a public bridleway ran through it because of a council blunder when official maps were drawn up. Pictured is their home, showing the eastern driveway at the front. The western driveway is the bridleway
Warring neighbours have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on a six-year legal battle over the positioning of a bridleway (pictured) between their properties
Mr Harbour-Cooper said the accompanying ‘definitive description’ was correct, however.
Mr Moore and his wife say they would never have bought the property if they had known ramblers, horse riders and dog walkers could pass through their land.
But an estate agent’s brochure, published prior to the purchase and submitted to the inquiry as evidence, twice refers to the path through the 1.75 acres of land attached to the six-bedroom house, parts of which date back to the 17th century.
One entry states the ‘stable block and paddock… along with the bridleway, makes this an ideal home for anyone wanting to keep a horse’.
Nigel Adams, the founder of online estate agents BigBlackHen.com and whose parents owned Breach House from 1973 to 1985, said he handled the sale to Mr Moore and his wife in 2015 and submitted the marketing brochure.
He told the inquiry: ‘During this process, I repeatedly discussed with the Moores the existing bridleway and its route through the Breach House land.’
David Moore, pictured, and his wife allegedly took down right-of-way signs that allowed the public to wander through the driveway and paddock of their home
Sue Williams with one of her horses she has to walk on the road now that there’s no access to the bridleway
Mr Moore and his wife have closed a gate and put up signs warning people not to come in. Locals say garden waste has been piled up against the fence to act as an added barrier
Wayne Morris, a retired Met inspector says he was reported by Mr Moore and Dr Carnell to the standards committee
A former resident of the 2,900 sq ft house also told the hearing Mr Moore revealed he was closing off the route in December 2019 after his dog allegedly attacked other dogs and their owners.
Richard Chaplin, who still lives in the village, said: ‘Rather than fencing off part of his property… an anomaly had been identified in the definitive map which, in his opinion, gave him the legal right to close the section that passed through his land.’
Matters became heated in 2019, when Mr Moore took down two right-of-way signs and locked access gates.
The resulting bad blood led to police involvement, as Mr Moore – whose wife works at University College Hospital in London – complained of criminal damage, including scratches on his cars, and harassment.
The occupants of the two cottages have also ploughed about £50,000 each into legal costs, arguing the bridleway does run through Breach House.
Sue Williams, a retired Metropolitan Police commander whose husband Wayne is parish council chairman, said they had used the ‘clearly marked route… more than 8,000 times’ since 1997.
William Marques, who lived in Breach House in the 1960s, also recalled the bridleway passing through the property.
Mr Morris pointing at the bridleway as shown on the 1924 map
Neighbour Sue Williams, a retired commander with the Metropolitan Police, claims this is the correct route of the bridleway
The legal dispute has stemmed from the bridleway taking another route on a different map
‘I used it to go to my grandparents’ house because an alternative route was ‘too dangerous’,’ he told the planning inspector.
Locals giving evidence to the inquiry included Anthony Barrett, who has acted as an advocate for residents on the issue.
He said he had used the route since 1999 and the ‘incorrect map’ was obviously wrong because ‘the line on the definitive map goes straight through the middle of a house’.
He added: ‘It would be absurd to argue that it is in the correct place. It is an impossibility.’
Mr Moore told the hearing the county council admitted in 2020 that bridleway signs by his home were wrong and they were removed. The legal dispute began in December that year when Mr Morris demanded access.
In a sworn statement, he said: ‘When I purchased the property, I was not made aware of the existence of a bridleway crossing the property.’
The planning inquiry was adjourned for a site visit to take place early next month.
