Parking row costs British couple their marriage

LONDON - A minor parking dispute outside a couple’s home not only cost them their home, but also their marriage.

Michael and Elaine Smith’s troubles began in June 2008 when they parked a car on land they owned behind their home. Their neighbours, however, said their access was being blocked.

A few days later, the couple got a legal letter demanding that they move the car. But they were advised by a solicitor not to do so.

Last year they received summons to attend Leeds County Court.

The Smiths, who did not have legal representation at the hearing, lost the case and were told to pay legal costs as well as 36,000 pounds in compensation.

The couple, who had been married for 36 years and have four children, were in a financial doldrum.

They then put up their two-bedroom house in Stanley, Wakefield, on the market. But it didn’t sell and they were taken back to court.

The possession of the house was then handed to their neighbour’s solicitor earlier this month.

“Our relationship fell apart. This has destroyed me and my entire family. Before this we had a solid, happy marriage but now we’re not living together and barely speak,” Daily Express quoted 55-year-old Elaine as saying.

Michael said: “The car was parked on our land but they said it was blocking their right of way. I said I would move it when I’d found somewhere else to put it. The next thing, they’d called in a solicitor. It seems surreal that all this has happened over something so trivial.”