By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-22 22:10:50 | Updated at 2026-09-22 22:52:59
1 hour ago
A council row has erupted after a local authority has blocked a pensioner's garden gate with two concrete blocks.
Helene Ball, 81, from Matlock has branded Derbyshire County Council's conduct "beyond childish" after discovering the bricks positioned outside her home.
This happened just days after she triumphed in a three-year legal dispute with the authority.
The former teacher secured victory at a first-tier tribunal last week, with the council ordered to pay £50,000 in costs following its decision to obstruct a gateway in her rear garden wall.
Ms Ball found the council had placed what she described as "concrete Lego bricks" between her gate and the access road leading to a nearby car park.
The pensioner said the latest development had left her "very annoyed" and questioning whether there was "any length this council won't go to".
The dispute began in April 2023, when council workers fixed a metal fence panel across a three-foot opening in Ms Ball's rear garden wall, cutting off her route to a council-owned car park beyond.
She mounted a legal challenge, demonstrating the gateway had been regularly used since the 1960s.
The access road to Cavendish Road car park, which is currently on the market, provides rear access to Ms Ball's home (stock pic)
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The tribunal agreed, establishing a formal right of way through the opening.
Taking down the panel, the council were instructed to ensure Ms Ball's access remained unobstructed.
The concrete blocks appeared on the access road after the car park site was listed for sale.
Speaking to the BBC, Ms Ball expressed her frustration at the situation.
Ms Ball found the council had placed 'concrete Lego bricks' between her gate and the access road (stock pic)
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"I'm 81. I've had a very busy life. And all I want to do is sit in my little house at the top of the road and live the remaining years in peace," she said.
She suggested the blocks effectively channelled her along a narrow path, adding: "It appears to me that if I deviated from that path, that I would be trespassing.
"At 81 years of age, I clearly need guiding out of my back gate to the access road."
The retired primary school teacher, who spent her career working with children aged nine to eleven, compared the authority's conduct to playground behaviour.
"They did everything they could to bully me," she said.
"I never expected the council to act so babyish. It has been beyond childish. I dealt with bullies at school, and then found myself being bullied again. They tried to put us off, but they messed with the wrong ones."
The blocks, it is understood, were installed to shield a grassed area and trees from unauthorised parking and potential damage once the car park entrance was reopened.
In his ruling last week, Judge Robert Brown noted some of the evidence submitted by the council had been "surprisingly combative".
A Derbyshire County Council spokesman acknowledged the authority was "aware of the matter" and said it had been "the subject of legal proceedings which were instigated by Mrs Helene Ball".
He added the council had accepted it was "unreasonable to erect the fence" at the time and had "apologised for any distress caused".
The council, he claimed, had been negotiating access arrangements before legal action commenced.
The spokesman said the authority had "a duty to safeguard its legal interests in public assets, including land that it owns and manages on behalf of residents".
