Man pays security guards £18,000 to protect wall two bricks high from developers

Man pays security guards £18,000 to protect wall two bricks high from developers Roger says his dad built the wall and he won't let it be demolished A man has spent nearly £18,000 on a security guard to protect a wall from developers who want to knock it down. Roger White, 59, has been paying a security company to guard the two-brick-high wall since February, which he inherited from his dad in 1997. Developers Lioncourt Homes previously said it needed to demolish the 52-year-old 'dwarf wall' to create an emergency access route, in line with its planning permission to build new homes. But Roger says the two-brick-high wall next to a development of 70 homes in Hempsted, Gloucester, is his, and that it's on land his dad left him. Roger says he is spending £150 per day on a security guard outside the small wall, but he is now in conversation with the developers and hopes to reach an agreement soon. He said the ideal outcome would be to sell the wall, keep the bricks and rebuild the wall in his home as a tribute to his father Ernie, a local estate agent in Gloucester. Roger said: "If we do come to an agreement and dismantle the wall, I'll do it again at my house in memory of my dad and the fact that this has been such a big issue. I don't want to just see the wall go to the tip. I'd actually take it down and reassemble it in my home or elsewhere." He added: "I am hopeful of coming to a resolution after over a year of being ignored, but we are not there yet. We are still keeping security in place for my own peace of mind." He said that having had a meeting with the developer is a "big step forward", as the row has been a "distraction" in his life. Roger added: "This has dominated my life for over a year. He left me the wall and told me to keep an eye on it and that it would be worth something one day, and that's why I felt so strongly, and fought so hard, but it has affected my life. "Every day there was some development about the wall - it's taken over my life. When you believe in something, and it's because of something your dad left you, that's why I fought so hard for it." Lioncourt apparently has documents from 1964 which it shows it owns the wall. But Mr White says he has docs from 1971 which he says prove the wall belongs to him - including his Land Registry ownership proof. He says the plot of land was valued at £10,000 in 2017. He said: "If somebody had shown me a piece of paper which says that I was totally wrong and the wall is part of the adopted highway and I didn't own it, then I would've not have pursued it. The only reason why I pursued it is because of what my dad told me over the years. My dad passed away in 1997, and I always kept an eye on it and remember what he told me." In a cease-and-desist letter sent to Mr White last year the developer said he had "no entitlement to a ransom" over the wall. Roger previously said that Lioncourt Homes was attempting to get retrospective discharge of the planning conditions. Lioncourt Homes said it has installed a fence and gate at the site and insists it has already installed the required emergency access, without needing any third-party land. But Mr White disagrees that the developer has complied with the planning requirements, as he says he owns the land needed for access. Mr White's father Ernie was a local estate agent in Gloucester, and he purchased a number of 'ransom strips' as potential investments. He said: "My dad left me this dwarf wall for a reason." A spokesperson for Gloucestershire County Council said then: "We consider that the legal boundary of Lioncourt’s land directly adjoins the public road of Honeythorn Close. Legal boundaries have no physical width (regardless of the physical boundary's appearance) and the highway status takes precedence over whoever owns the ground beneath it. ''Therefore, the council considers that the works to create the emergency vehicle access as required by planning can be lawfully implemented.” A spokesperson for Lioncourt Homes, said previously: "Works required to implement our planning permission is in land wholly owned by Lioncourt Homes or is in adopted highway land, no third-party land is required. The emergency access has now been installed."