Watch: East Sussex man repeatedly drives into neighbour's fence

Peter Ellis has been fined £1,630 and ordered not to contact his neighbour for a year after he appeared before Brighton Magistrates’ Court on September 14.

Security camera footage shows him repeatedly bashing his neighbour’s plastic fence with two different cars following an argument over their shared driveway.

One clip appears to show Ellis looking closely at the fence before he gets in to his car and reverses out, hitting the fence in the process.

Another shows him driving the edge of his Land Rover into the fence deliberately on two separate occasions, destroying the fence in the process.

Ellis hitting into the fence which divided the driveways (Image: CPS)

The court heard that Ellis, of Bishopstone, East Sussex, had hit his neighbour John Rowe’s fence an estimated 20 times in just four months.

District Judge Hawgood found him guilty of criminal damage – saying he had deliberately tried to “annoy and frustrate” his neighbour.

The court heard the pair had been neighbours for some time and, at one point, had been friendly with each other – pooling their money together to tarmac the driveway between the two properties.

But things turned sour when Ellis accidentally spilled hydraulic oil on the driveway as he fixed a puncture on his car, so Mr Rowe installed a plastic fence to mark off his side of the drive.

Giving evidence, Mr Rowe, who chose to appear behind a screen, said he had told Ellis of his intention to install the fence and that he had told him “put the damn fence up then” – though Mr Rowe admitted erecting the fence was against a covenant.

Ellis leaving Brighton Magistrates' Court on Monday, September 14 (Image: NQ)

Ellis, representing himself in court, said he was unable to see the fence when he was in the drivers’ seat of the car due to the incline of the driveway – and that hitting it had been an accident.

He also said the fence was very delicate, adding: “It is so fragile, it is an ornament not a fence.

"A breeze of wind could blow it away."

District Judge Hawgood found Ellis guilty on the charge of criminal damage, stating that if he was capable of using the driveway without hitting the fence it must have been intentional.

In a victim impact statement read by the prosecution, Mr Rowe said that the incident meant himself and his wife could not fully enjoy their retirement.

District Judge Hawgood told Ellis he must pay £980 in compensation and also imposed a restraining order not to contact Mr Rowe directly or indirectly for 12 months.

He must also pay court costs of £650.