Accountant ordered to pay £60k to neighbours for 'toxic' 7-year parking dispute

In a bitter seven-year parking dispute, an accountant is instructed to pay £60,000 to his neighbours for boxing in their car, blocking their garage, and 'trespassing' on their spaces.

Since 2015, Ivan Soares, 53, had been in a continuous dispute with his neighbours over a small area of parking space, which led to a prolonged conflict.

Bindu Kothari, along with her husband Sandip and brother-in-law Manish, accused their neighbour of frequently blocking their cul-de-sac, boxing them in by parking inches away from their car, and obstructing their garage in Harefield, West London.

When Bindu requested Soares to move his car, so she could go to work, he responded in a 'high-handed and insulting' manner, saying 'Not my problem’ – the judge stated.

Consequently, Soares and his wife Sunita have been ordered by Judge Jane Evans-Gordon at Central London County Court to pay £60,090 as compensation for their parking behaviour, which was classified as a type of 'bullying'.

The long-standing dispute between neighbours, which had become 'toxic' and incurred legal expenses exceeding £100,000, centered on three car parking spaces located outside their homes in Fallowfield Close, Harefield.

Two of the spaces were owned by the Soares, while the third space between them belonged to the Kotharis.