'Dwarf' wall just two bricks high is at centre of extraordinary planning row between developer and businessman who is trying to stop them knocking it down
A row has exploded between a housing developer and a local businessman over a two-brick high 'dwarf wall'.
Lioncourt Homes, which is building a 70-home estate in Hempsted, Gloucester, says it needs to rip down the wall - which is barely 20cm tall - to create an emergency access route in line with its planning permission.
But Roger White has thrown a spanner into the works by claiming the two-brick high barrier sits on a £10,000 plot land he inherited when his father died in 1997.
He alleges he is being 'bullied' by the company, which did not offer to buy the land before work began, and that it now wants to 'bulldoze' the tiny ankle-high structure.
The businessman claims he was sent a cease-and-desist letter, in which Lioncourt Homes said he had 'no entitlement to a ransom' over the wall.
A furious Mr White said: 'My father always said to me "keep an eye on it" and occasionally I would check on it and see that nothing had changed for years.
'About a month ago I noticed there was a development going on and there was a concrete fence and it was all opened up.
'I went online and I found the actual planning permission itself which stated that because of potential flooding in the lane entrance, planning authorities required that there would be an emergency access put in for emergency vehicles.
Businessman Roger White has hit out and claimed a two-brick high 'dwarf wall' is his
The IT worker says he owns the land the wall is on but claims developers are trying to 'bulldoze' it without buying the wall from him
'That emergency access was going to be across my land and obviously across my dwarf wall.'
He added: 'I contacted Lioncourt Homes and said 'you don't realise I own this' and they came back and confirmed in writing that it was my dwarf wall.
'But they are saying that either the dwarf wall is adopted highway or it is their dwarf wall - which clearly isn't.'
Lioncourt claims it has documents from 1964 which show it owns the wall, the BBC reports.
But Mr White has insisted he has records from 1971 which he claims proves the micro wall belongs to him.
Responding to the developer's cease and desist letter, Mr White's solicitors said it is for Lioncourt Homes to prove the wall is within its property and if it forms part of the public road.
Mr White said: 'The dwarf wall is in my name and correctly registered in the land registry - it is the most peculiar situation.
'I don't understand how we can get to the point of 70 houses being built and nobody has actually looked into this before.
'Lioncourt Homes have said to me in writing that they intend to get on with the work to put the entrance in and completely ignore my rights.'
Mr White says he inherited the small plot of land from his father in 1971
But Lioncourt Homes, which is building a 70-home estate in Hempsted, Gloucester, has disputed this and told him it needs to be torn down to create an emergency access to the estate
Pictured is the new estate, left, and the current housing development, right. Both are separated by the 'dwarf wall'
The two-brick high structure is barely 20cm tall but is at the centre of a major planning row
Mr White said Lioncourt just wants to 'bulldoze' the wall and 'get on with the work'.
'It certainly starts to feel like it is the big developer bullying a small businessman because they just seem to be adamant,' he added.
'If they need to demolish the wall they need to buy the wall.'
Mr White's father Ernie was a local estate agent in Gloucester, and he purchased a number of 'ransom strips' as potential investments.
He said: 'My dad left me this dwarf wall for a reason.'
A Lioncourt Homes spokesman said: 'Works required to implement our planning permission is in land wholly owned by Lioncourt Homes or is in adopted highway land, no third-party land is required.'
A spokesman for Gloucestershire County Council said: 'We consider that the legal boundary of Lioncourt's land directly adjoins the public road of Honeythorn Close. Legal boundaries have no physical width (regardless of the physical boundary's appearance) and the highway status takes precedence over whoever owns the ground beneath it.
'Therefore, the council considers that the works to create the emergency vehicle access as required by planning can be lawfully implemented.'
