UK B&B couple sell $3.5 million after 5 years of neighbour’s noise complaints

It is a planning dispute with all the makings of a comedy drama, with allegations of screaming children, blaring music and hot tub high jinks at a £1.85million ($3.5 million) holiday retreat.

But the feud between its owners Richard and Victoria Kerrison and their screenwriter neighbour Helen Crawley is no laughing matter.

They have been at war with Ms Crawley since 2019, when she claimed three rental properties next door to her rural Norfolk home were causing a loss of water pressure in a shared borehole – which the Kerrisons denied.

After she made another complaint, this time about noise, the local authority stepped in.

A battle over alleged planning irregularities ensued, costing the couple £90,000 ($176,000) in legal fees.

And following a Planning Inspectorate report, they are no longer allowed to operate their most profitable let – Courtyard Barn – which has five en suite bedrooms, a snooker room, summer house, hot tub and barbecue, and was available for £805 ($1582) per night.

Disheartened, the couple have decided to put their home and business on the market for £1.85million ($3.5 million).

Mr Kerrison said: “As a warning to anyone wishing to fight a local council – you need deep pockets. With one swipe of a pen, they (North Norfolk District Council) destroyed our business. It is such a peaceful, tranquil place and we will miss it.

“We’ve got a neighbour whose aim was to shut us down. That’s what she’s done with our biggest property,” he said of Ms Crawley, who lives with her wife Helena Montgomery.

He added: “I’m quite a bullish character. I can walk past our neighbours and not speak to them but my wife is more sensitive.”

Mr Kerrison, 63, and his 62-year-old wife, bought the dilapidated Roundabout Farm, a former dairy business in Thurning, for £79,000 ($155,271) in 1997. They spent £500,000 ($982,730) turning it into a holiday destination with countryside views.

In addition to Courtyard Barn, they also ran The Orangery, an award-winning bed and breakfast, and two-bedroom Pear Tree Cottage.

Two log cabins on the site have central heating, bathrooms, a gym and laundry room.

The luxury spot also offers equestrian facilities, with four acres of paddocks, a stable block and a large all-weather arena.

Problems began when Ms Crawley, 55, complained about the collapsed borehole, while Mr Kerrison said there was “no evidence” his business was to blame.

“Because the neighbour had a beef with us about that, she decided to make out we were noisy neighbours,” he said.

“We moved the hot tub as far away from her property as we could get it, but there were never raucous parties going on.”

Mrs Garrison said: “We live next door and always had someone on-site in case it got too loud.”

But the complaints triggered an investigation by North Norfolk District Council over multiple planning breaches, and officials claimed Courtyard Barn was let without the correct permission.

They also found The Orangery lacked permission, but said it would be regarded as an extension of Pear Tree Cottage, which did have the correct status.

In a further blow, the Kerrisons were told they could not live in their home – a three-bed log cabin known as “The Office”– because it did not have permission to be used for residential purposes.

However, the couple appealed to the Planning Inspectorate and were backed on all matters except Courtyard Barn, which must close in November.

They held on to their home with the help of another film figure – commercials producer Lady (Anwen) Hurt, the widow of actor Sir John Hurt – who attested that the Kerrisons had lived there for more than ten years, making it immune from action.

Her testimony included a photo of the Alien star buying a puppy from the Kerrisons in 2011.

Mr Kerrison added: “We’ve never had a written complaint from our neighbours. We just heard about it from the council. The Crawleys even rented the barn for guests on their wedding day in 2006.”

Ms Crawley worked as a BBC script editor in the 1990s but switched to writing after moving to New York.

There was no answer yesterday at her cottage conversion, which has a glass extension.

North Norfolk District Council said it was considering the Planning Inspectorate’s ruling.