Solicitor locked in legal battle with ramblers after erecting 4ft anti-climb wall to stop them from walking on scenic footpath next to her home

A solicitor is locked in a legal battle with a group of ramblers after putting up a 4ft wall to stop them using a scenic footpath next to her home.

Sine Garvie-Mcinally erected the barricade, made with wooden stakes and smeared with grease to stop people climbing it, outside her home in the idyllic Norfolk village of Newton by Castle Acre.

The fence has sparked fury from walkers who use the 150 metre stretch of footpath as it forms part of the Nar Valley Way - a 33-mile walking trail that passes 20 metres from her cottage.

The solicitor, who used to work for Norfolk County Council (NCC), claims the path infringes on her right to privacy and erected the makeshift barrier amid a row which has been rumbling on for 30 years.

Such is the fuss it has created, that a public inquiry was held last week during which Mrs Garvie-Mcinally claimed to have been verbally abused by walkers and seen men urinating outside her garden.

But ramblers have fought back and vowed to get the barricade removed by the council, which sent out a planning inspector to view it last week, with a decision expected early next year. 

The solicitor insists she has the law on her side and has warned if the ruling doesn't go her way she will have to sell her home.  

She said: 'I'm doing what I can to protect my home - this order would break my statutory right to privacy.

'People can see straight into my windows from the path. Men walking on the path have urinated outside my garden.

'I have suffered harassment and had rude comments and gestures made at me.

'If the decision goes the other way I will have to sell this house as I would not be able to live in quiet enjoyment.'

The two-day inquiry heard the disputed path forms part of the 33 miles of walking routes through Norfolk's woods and fields.

The Norfolk Ramblers Association say the path was registered as a public right of way, a claim Mrs Garvie-Mcinally states is wrong.

As a result of the row, the footpath has been blocked off with greasy anti-climb paint covering the wooden stakes.

Warning signs have also been put up warning people that CCTV monitoring is in place.

The dispute dates back to 1993 when Mrs Garvie-Mcinally moved into the village with her family.

The council ruled it the walkway was a registered path but the row is over whether it was a public one.

Walkers and riders continued to use the path as its status remained unconfirmed until 2000 when a local landowner put up signs preventing vehicles from using it.

Nine years later, a group of horse riders objected to Norfolk County Council about the posts, complaining about access to the route.

Mrs Garvie-Mcinally then revived her objections to the path and assembled the barricade in August 2020.

The Norfolk Ramblers Association applied to have the path registered as a public right of way which the council agreed to a year later.

Mrs Garvie-Mcinally appealed the decision to the Planning Inspectorate, an agency of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which was called in to settle the long-running dispute.

She claims the path lies on 'excepted land' under the Countryside Right of Way Act (2001), because her home is within 20m of the track and therefore breaches her right to privacy.

Locals and walkers, with the help of the National Ramblers Association, produced maps proving the route has been used as far back 1774.

They hope this would make the path a public byway through the legal maxim 'once a highway always a highway'.

Currently, the barrier blocks a section of a path connecting the Nar Valley Way from West Lexham to a road that leads to Castle Acre.

Julie Whales, 67, who lives in nearby Great Dunham, said: 'We've walked, cycled and horse ridden this route for numerous years and my husband has used it since he was a young lad.

'I cannot believe somebody would like to take away access people have had for hundreds of years, a route which provides access to many villages in the county.'

Helen Breach, an artist who lives locally, said: 'I've been using this track for 40-odd years and finding this historic route blocked seems an unfriendly action.

'It spoils people's enjoyment of the countryside and seems selfish and not very community-minded.'

Planning inspector Dr Paul Freer, who chaired the hearing, is expected to announce early next year whether the barricade must go.