Garden land dispute councillor sorry for climbing neighbour's fence

A county councillor scaled his neighbour's fence in an attempt to lay claim to part of his garden.

Colin Matthews used a ladder to climb over before hammering in fence posts and attaching wire along the disputed boundary.

A tense confrontation with homeowner Mark Ashwin over the 86 sq ft (8 sq m) patch ensued and was caught on camera.

Lincolnshire councillor Mr Matthews has apologised for his behaviour, but insists the land is his.

Mr Ashwin, from Sutton-on-Sea, said the dispute was over a small strip he bought from another neighbour a year ago.

'Touched my face'

"We suddenly had a ladder put against our fence and councillor Matthews came over it and then started saying the land belonged to him," he said.

"I still believe it is our land and I reached over to undo this string and take it off this post, and at that point his manner went from intimidating to extremely intimidating, shouting loudly, with no mask on."

In a clip from the recording of the confrontation, Mr Matthews can be heard to shout "do not touch my property" as he appears to stand nose-to-nose with his neighbour.

"He's entered my land, no mask, in a pandemic, and he actually touched my face," Mr Ashwin said.

Mr Matthews used a ladder to get over the fence

Lincolnshire Police was called to "reports of a civil dispute between neighbours" and officers attended to "give words of advice" before leaving the scene. No arrests were made.

Mr Matthews, a Conservative councillor for the Alford and Sutton ward, said the land dispute was "complicated" and had left him "deeply, emotionally upset".

"It had been a long day. It was an unresolved matter and I thought I'll just tick that off before I go to bed," he said.

"I should have gone home and had a cup of tea.

"Am I proud of what I did? No. Was it the right thing to do, not to be handled in that manner, but how do I protect my land?

"But, hey-ho, it's happened and I'm really sorry and it won't happen again."