Judgment is pending in a boundary dispute that has now been heard by a total of 11 judges: one in Stoke County Court, two in the Court of Appeal and eight law lords – three at an application for leave to appeal and five during the appeal itself.
The case involves the legal status of a boundary ditch separating two farm fields in Staffordshire. The dispute began when a hedge adjoining the ditch was grubbed out and replaced with a wooden post and wire fence.
One party claimed that ownership of the hedge and ditch is presumed to be that of the owner of the land on the hedge side of the ditch. The other party argued that this is not the case when land has been conveyed by reference to an Ordnance Survey map.
See: Alan Wibberley Building Ltd v Insley
PLS News 20/4/99
