A woman in Clacton-on-Sea is locked in a bitter dispute with Essex County Council after spending £4,000 to build a driveway over what officials claim is a public alleyway.
Angela Ward, 56, has been ordered to remove gates and structures blocking the path beside her home, which the council insists must remain open to the public.
Ward maintains the alleyway is part of her property deeds and took action to seal it off after discovering it had become a hotspot for crime and anti-social behaviour. Essex Highways is now threatening to forcibly remove the barriers if she refuses to comply.
After moving to the property in 2021, Ward discovered the alleyway was plagued by drug dealing, with addicts queuing in the narrow space. The passage, running from Dudley Road to Agincourt Road, had become littered with faeces, used needles and urine.
The entrance to the alleyway with the boarded up door visible
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Residents reported youngsters using it for sexual activities, while bikers raced through it as a getaway route. Ward says strangers would loiter in her garden and throw rubbish over her fence.
Together with neighbours, who had been campaigning against the alleyway since 2018, she decided to gate off both ends of the path.
Essex Highways claims that while they don’t own the land, the alleyway is considered an “unmaintainable highway” that must remain accessible to the public. A 20-metre stretch at the Agincourt Road end is officially maintained council land, adopted in 1986.
The council says public use over the past 20 years has established highway rights, even though the land is unregistered.
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The alleyway pictured in 2012 before the blockade was installled
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Ward says councillors at both Tendring District Council and Essex County Council initially told her the alleyway was jointly owned by her and her neighbour. Speaking to reporters, Ward said: “It’s ridiculous. The alleyway puts the residents’ safety at risk.”
She claims the dispute has caused her severe mental distress, leading to anxiety attacks and sleepless nights.
“I’ve suffered breakdowns because of all this and have had to go to the doctor. I can’t sleep at all, I can’t function,” she said. The stress has prompted her to put her house on the market.
Ward has spent £6,000 in total on the driveway, gates and new fencing, and is now raising money through GoFundMe for legal representation.
Essex Highways says it remains “committed to working with all parties involved to explore solutions that balance public access with the safety and wellbeing of the community”.
The authority acknowledges residents’ concerns but maintains its statutory duty to ensure public right of access.
Councillor Mark Stephenson, Leader of Tendring District Council, said: “TDC is aware of concerns raised by residents related both to activities in the alleyway when it was open and to its subsequent blockage.”
He added that highway rights enforcement falls under Essex County Council’s jurisdiction, hoping “a solution can be found in the interests of all concerned.”
