We don't want it! Weldon couple in fight with house builders over wasteland

Stephen and Pauline Allsopp moved into their house in Bramblewood Road, built by Persimmon Homes, four years ago.

A strip of land that runs between their garden fence and the adjoining industrial unit has become overgrown - but Land Registry documents show it does not officially belong to the Allsopps and nobody is taking responsibility for it.

Mr Allsopp, 61, says the land was not registered to the property when it was sold and Persimmon should sort it out rather than just try to give him the land.

He said: “They can’t just give me the land and the problems.

“They are just trying to get out of doing the right thing.

“They could have sorted it years ago but there’s been four years of growth since we moved and it’s stressing us out.”

The cheese-shaped piece of land full of trees is 70ft long and 1.1m wide at its widest.

It has grown into their garden, bending their neighbour’s fence, and the trees would cost about £5,000 to clear.

Mr Allsopp spent ‘all summer’ chopping down vegetation which had grown over the fence.

He added that when he contacted Corby Council about clearing it, he was warned not to do it himself as it wasn’t his land and he could be trespassing.

A Persimmons Homes spokesman said the land was included in the sale, but not registered with the Land Registry.

The spokesman said: “We have been in discussion with Mr Allsopp in October and we have explained our position from a legal perspective.

“The original transfer documents confirm that the land was included in the sale to the original purchaser.

“However, the land wasn’t registered at Land Registry correctly at that time.

“Land Registry are looking at the issue to rectify the boundary irregularity.”

Mr Allsopp said he was not prepared to carry the can for an error he did not make.

He said: “If it was all lowered I could maintain it but there’s no way I can take those trees down.

“It’s just going to get worse and worse.

“If they sort the land out I’ll take it off them but we’re not having the mess because of their mistake.

“They’re building other houses in the village and it wouldn’t take much for them to just come and sort it.”

Mr Allsopp added that he has since been contacted by the Land Registry after Persimmon tried to register the land with him, which he has refused.

He added: “They should have registered it but they didn’t, so it’s their problem.

“We’re not backing down.”