Hampshire County Council has been told to pay a couple £1,000 in damages due to the inconvenience caused by the neighbouring school’s play area.
The couple filed a legal complaint against the council after 170 footballs were kicked into their garden from a school’s playground over an 11-month period.
In his recent ruling, a High Court judge reportedly confirmed that the disruption caused to Mohamed and Marie-Anne Bakhaty constituted a ‘common law nuisance’ but said the couple had ‘lost perspective’.
Judge Philip Glen reportedly concluded that the claimants ‘have become sensitised by the noise from the school’ and remain ‘over-invested in their belief that they are victims of a wrong’.
The play area belonging to Westgate School is separated from the Bakhaty’s home by a 1.8m wooden fence, and a net was introduced in 2022 by the school’s headteacher to prevent further balls crossing the boundary.
Whilst the judge ruled that the defendant seemed unlikely to ‘continue the nuisance’, he ordered the council to compensate the couple for the damages incurred before the fence and ball net were implemented, the BBC reported.
.png)
