I find myself in sympathy with Former Mrs Ink, who simply wants to walk her little dog, and have reluctantly suggested that she seek independent legal advice to confirm the position and possibly get a letter sent round promising to comply with the lock malarkey but insisting on her right to use the path. On the face of it there doesn't seem to be much else that can be done, and the law offers no remedy for what is plainly going on, which is sneaky intimidation designed to discourage use of the path.
Why are some neighbours such loathsome, petty shitbags? Suitable punishments ought to be available for wantonly objectionable types living next door, ideally modelled on those meted out to offenders in the Tudor age. I'd be more than happy to nail their ears to a pillory or indeed to remove their ears one at a time with a fortnight's gap in between so that the pain, apprehension and anxiety might be kept well burnished. I'd show those lads in Reservoir Dogs a thing or two. An ear or two, I meant to say.
