By IANS,
London: Two British neighbours went on to spend a whopping 40,000 pounds (about $64,300) in a legal dispute over a moveable garbage bin.
The legal tangle started after one of the neighbours named Liaquat Ali refused to shift a bin from the drive their neighbours share. It infuriated his neighbour Iqbal Suleman, who complained that the bin blocked his van, The Sun reported.
“My wife and I moved the bin to the widest part of the alleyway at the back where we know any van or car will fit through easily,” said Ali, a computer analyst.
As the matter could not be settled, Suleman engaged lawyers to write to Ali.
“Then we received a lawyer’s letter about ‘damages’ and ‘losses’. We thought it was a joke,” said Ali.
As the battle headed to court, Ali fixed four CCTV cameras to spy on Suleman, 45, and his bin in Edgware town in London. But his costs soared to 36,370 pounds after his lawyers compiled 40 pages of evidence.
Suleman hit back with 300 pages of photos and witness statements. By defending himself, he spent 2,000 pounds.
Suleman’s lawyers said of the feud going to a county court: “Sometimes this is the only route.”
“To end up in front of a judge was humiliating,” said Ali. “I think he was surprised when he saw what the case was about.”
A judge ruled neither could leave their bins in the drive. The pair are now squabbling over who should pay the lawyers’ huge bill.