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Customer Good afternoon. I am Eleanor Hargrove and I have come to discuss the boundary between my garden and that of my neighbour. Solicitor Good afternoon. I am Julian Penrose. Please take a seat. From the documents you forwarded, it would appear that the issue concerns an alleged encroachment which began last September. Customer Precisely. Mr Alistair Crowe, who lives next door in Bath, erected a fence some eighty-five centimetres inside my property line. He claims the boundary follows an old hedge which has since been removed. Solicitor One must be cautious here. The title deeds you supplied, dated nineteen seventy- eight, indicate the original demarcation ran along the line of the stone wall. Nevertheless, prolonged acquiescence could, in certain circumstances, support a claim of adverse possession. Customer I have photographs taken before the fence appeared and a surveyor's report commissioned in twenty twenty-one. Would these suffice to refute any such claim? Solicitor They would certainly strengthen your position, though one cannot rule out the possibility that a court might require further evidence of the original boundary markers. It might therefore be prudent to instruct a boundary expert before proceeding. Customer What would be the immediate next step and its likely cost? Solicitor I would recommend sending a letter before action, setting out your position and inviting Mr Crowe to remove the fence within twenty-eight days. The fee for preparing that letter would be two hundred and seventy-five pounds, excluding VAT. Customer And if he declines to comply? Solicitor We could then consider issuing proceedings in the county court. Such a course, however, carries both financial risk and considerable delay. Mediation might offer a less adversarial route, though its success would depend on both parties' willingness to compromise. Customer I should prefer to avoid court if possible, yet I cannot accept the loss of that strip of garden. Solicitor Quite understandable. Before any letter is sent, I shall need your confirmation that the eighty-five centimetre measurement has been verified by a more recent survey. Any discrepancy could weaken the entire claim. Customer The surveyor confirmed the figure last month. I also possess correspondence in which Mr Crowe acknowledges the original wall as the boundary, albeit in an email from two years ago. Solicitor That admission could prove useful. I shall review all materials this week and forward a draft letter for your approval. In the meantime, it would be advisable to refrain from any direct discussion with Mr Crowe that might be construed as an offer to negotiate.