A man in search of some privacy from chippy customers sitting on his window sill and peering into his living room has erected a fence around the footpath around his house.
Stephen Williams put up the 4ft-high picket fence to block off a path and a layby used by customers going into the chippy next door.
The 45-year-old used to run a sweet shop next to Victoria House Fish and Chips, which he was forced to close in 2019.
He has held onto the property and has now transformed the building into a house.
The old shop front is being turned into a living room but customers are furious, saying pedestrians must now walk on the road to get to the chip shop.
"There's a layby outside the chippy which people use to park before picking up their food,” one customer said.
"The chip shop has been there for years. Whoever bought the house next door must have known that. Sticking a fence up is very petty.”
The customer went on to say it was “unbelievable” that Williams wants privacy now, after benefiting from people walking on the path when they were coming into his shop and “lining his pockets”.
Mr Williams built the fence along the original boundary line of his £300,000 semi-detached property in Alnwick, Northumberland, which extends 2ft onto the layby.
A nearby resident said that while they didn’t agree with the fence, they had some sympathy for Williams.
"Stephen is sick and tired of people eating their chips right outside his home,” they said. "Sometimes schoolkids queue outside and can go right outside his living room window.
"They are basically sitting on his windowsill stuffing their faces while he's watching TV.
Council chiefs are now investigating if Mr Williams' fence is legal.
Cllr Gordon Castle, Alnwick ward member for Northumberland County Council, said he had raised it with officers at County Hall to the highest level.
"He [Mr Williams] claims to have deeds showing ownership of where his fence now sits,” Cllr Castle said.
"I can hardly believe he has gone ahead with this before any resolution with county highways, especially given the impact on pedestrians and children walking to school.
"There are meetings scheduled to find the legal way forward and I'm sorry I can't do more, but I've sent photos and explained to officers that I'm receiving many messages of complaint. I can't get it higher or faster at County Hall, but I won't let it go."
Mr Williams defended the fence, saying he wanted "privacy" now that the shop had been turned into a house and the front room had become his living room.
"This means the window faces straight onto the path which is used by people queuing to get fish and chips,” he said. "We've had people eating their chips on our windowsill and looking through the window while we are trying to relax. It's not on.
"We just want some privacy. The land is rightfully ours. We checked with the plans and we are legally entitled to put a fence up.
"Most people wouldn't want people using their land as a footpath and neither do we. We just want to protect our property."
