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Help! 'Neighbours from hell' have made garden a 15ft quarry - PICTURES



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Published Date: 08 August 2008
EVERY morning for the last two years, Barry Blackham has woken to see a building site in his neighbour's back garden.
At first it was a shocking 15ft deep "quarry" gouged out of the earth on Whiteways Close, Grimesthorpe, Sheffield.

Then it became a landfill site, filled with mattresses, prams and old junk.

Barry claims much of the work has been carried out by young children - as shown in incredible pictures he took from the windows of his home.

Yet, astonishingly, despite months of complaints, little has been done to stop Barry's neighbour Mohammed Islam from making his life a misery.

And for two years Barry's children Prya and Riya have been unable to play in their own back garden in case they fall into the enormous man-made hole.

Today Barry told The Star Mohammed Islam and his family were "neighbours from hell" and added: "I feel annoyed, frustrated and angry."

Barry said the saga began when Mohammed Islam gouged out a massive hole in the earth in his garden next door and drilled on down into the rock - leaving a hole several metres deep.

Barry, aged 34, a business sales advisor for PC World, said: "It all started two years ago when Mr Islam decided to dig out his back garden. In the process he removed my boundary and undermined my land.

"From the front our properties are three storey, but from the rear they are two. The land is solid sandstone. The hole he dug was approximately 20 feet by 20 feet and, from my property into his hole, at places the drop was 15ft plus."

Barry, married to wife Usha, said: "I have complained to everyone I can until I'm blue in the face but no-one seems interested."

After countless phone calls and letters to MPs, the Health and Safety Executive, and to Sheffield Council, Mr Islam was ordered by Sheffield Council to fill the hole in.

Faced with an enforcement order, followed by threats of legal action, Mr Islam eventually began to fill the huge hole.

But Barry said: "He filled it with old mattresses and bed bases, TVs, babies' cots, tables, car seats - you name it, it's in there buried under the soil.

"I feel annoyed, frustrated and angry. I am a normal guy and I want to be able to go home and relax with no hassle."

Mr Islam, 32, who describes himself as a property developer, told The Star: "Originally the neighbours were quite happy about it.

"All I was going to do was take all the muck out and have a big back garden with walls around it. But it was solid stone underneath and we had to drill it out.

"Then the council came round and said we had to fill it in. We did put some stuff in. We asked the neighbours if they had some wood and old tree logs they could put it in. But some put rubble and TVs and stuff in. We took that out.

"I thought it was going to cost me £5,000. But it has cost me £20,000 already. It is money I don't have."

He admitted Health and Safety Inspectors had been out to inspect the site, but said they asked only that workmen wear yellow jackets and hats.

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The full article contains 620 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

  • Last Updated: 08 August 2008 2:54 PM
  • Source: Sheffield Star
  • Location: Sheffield
 
 
  

 
 


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