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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Ryan Evans & Graeme Murray

'My Nightmare Neighbour Next Door' stars ordered to remove caravan outside home

Stars of 'My Nightmare Neighbour Next Door' have been ordered to remove a caravan from outside their house after a neighbour who was left "stressed and upset".

Lady Lillie Goddard and her disabled mother were apparently living in the static home alongside her £170,000 property.

She previously had a shipping container in the garden in Swindon, Wiltshire and has faced years of complaints from neighbours.

The row also featured in the Channel 5 documentary 'My Nightmare Neighbour Next Door'.

A court has now ruled the caravan must be removed from their garden which also heard the couple's name is 'Lord and Lady Goddard'.

The shipping container and static caravan which was outside the home of Lillie Goddard (Swindon Advertiser / SWNS)

Speaking at the property, Mark said his wife bought the English aristocracy title several years ago.

At Swindon County Court a judge ruled that their "quiet residential area has been inconvenienced" by the caravan.

The couple must now remove it by August 5, or the council will.

There was initially not enough room in the garden for the caravan, which arrived in July 2019, before a wall was partially removed to accommodate it.

But Swindon Borough Council claimed this broke several covenants - legal rules contained with the deeds of a property - which set out what can and cannot be done with the land.

Lillie Goddard and her disabled mother were said to be living in the static home alongside her £170,000 property (Swindon Advertiser / SWNS)

Council prosecutor Daryl Bigwood had told the court there are three covenants breached.

They state that the property cannot be used to cause annoyance to the council or neighbours, that no structure is to be erected without the permission of the council and no caravan is to be parked on the property unless approved by the authority.

He said that the couple breached all three.

The court heard that the static home "affected the amenity of the area", residents were asked to move their cars to make way for it and that the council has "been put to some expense".

Speaking at home, 'Lord Goddard' said his wife resides in the caravan with her disabled mother but is "making arrangements" to have it moved following the court's decision.

"I've not done anything wrong myself, not personally", he said.

The static caravan outside the Goddard's home (Swindon Advertiser / SWNS)

"The problem is, [my wife] has misinterpreted the law. It could have been dealt with a lot differently.

"She offered to put a fence up there, it would have been fenced off and you wouldn't see anything - but the council wouldn't allow it.

"I know Lillie's not perfect, but it could have been resolved completely differently had people come up to her and spoken to her normally."

Johanna Wilson said that the couple had an "unacceptable impact" on the area during the three-year ordeal.

She told Swindon County Court in a statement she had found dealing with the issues and trying to reach a conclusion "stressful, frustrating and upsetting".

The large caravan was delivered to the Goddard house on July 17, 2019.

The large caravan was delivered to the Goddard's house in July 2019 (Swindon Advertiser / SWNS)

Ms Wilson said: "All cars in Amersham Road and Purley Avenue had a hand-written note placed on them advising that a large load delivery was being made and could the vehicles be moved.

"At approximately 9pm that evening a transporter vehicle arrived loaded with the static caravan."

She said the transporter found it "very difficult" to manoeuvre around the parked cars, with a number of people watching on from the street.

"I heard a loud cracking of metal and it was apparent the caravan had been damaged during unloading. The caravan was left on the open grass area.

"It didn't look very stable as it was tilting and balanced on house bricks."

She added that the storage container was delivered on December 20 of that year, and she "was concerned as it looked so out of place and untidy and what it would be used for".

Ms Wilson said that a number of lodgers were living in the property and the family were living in the static caravan.

Meanwhile, Louise Moore, one of the council's planning officer, said that she was first made aware of issues on July 24, with the authority launching an investigation.

Ms Moore said: "The overall state and appearance of the site was very detrimental to the area.

"The removal of the brick wall to allow the mobile home access looked as it had been done quickly and amateurly, with resulting bricks and debris scattered around the garden roughly stacked."

Swindon Borough Council successfully obtained an injunction requiring Lord and Lady Goddard remove the caravan by August 5.

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