A former couple doused their neighbour’s property in hose water and put up “clowns and dolls” on their fence during a campaign of harassment lasting more than a year, a court has heard.

Sandra Durdin, 58, is also said to have called their neighbour an “ugly w***e” and, together with ex-partner Trevor Dempsey, 63, allegedly parked vehicles on the complainant’s drive in Chingford.

The pair have been accused of flooding their neighbour's alleyway and attaching barbed wire onto garden fencing in a long-running feud between June 2020 and last August.

They were due to stand trial at Stratford Magistrates’ Court today (April 11) after each denying a charge of harassment but Phil Emery, defending Dempsey, said Durdin had contracted Covid-19 and was unable to attend.

Durdin has also pleaded not guilty to criminal damage in relation to an allegation of destroying a £1,350 CCTV camera belonging to their neighbour of around four decades.

Prosecutor Lucy McGarr said the allegations against the former couple included “putting up clowns and dolls on (their neighbour’s) fence” and “spraying hose water onto their house”.

But the case was described as “messy to say the least” and adjourned for a review ahead of a further hearing on May 3 at Thames Magistrates’ Court.

District Judge Jane McIvor directed the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to decide “whether it is in the public interest to continue” with proceedings ahead of that date.

Dempsey, who sat in the dock wearing a dark suit, spoke to confirm his details and tell the court he has now separated from Durdin.

The defendants, both of whom are on bail, have both moved to Ramsgate, a previous hearing was told.

They will not be required to attend on May 3.