Moment nightmare neighbour destroys riverbank with digger as part of 'four-year campaign'

This is the moment a man destroyed his neighbour's riverbank with a digger after a 'four year campaign' which saw him dig a 90 m...

This is the moment a man destroyed his neighbour's riverbank with a digger after a 'four year campaign' which saw him dig a 90 metre trench through her land.

Andrea Marland captured the moment her nightmare neighbour Sam Bancroft drove a digger onto her land and started moving soil from one side of the river to another.

The River Tonge in Bolton, Greater Manchester, has created a huge divide between the two neighbours living on either side of it. 

Mr Bancroft claimed that the work was essential to save his land from erosion. 

However Ms Marland was one of a group of residents who claimed that Mr Bancroft caused damage to wildlife.

Mr Bancroft was warned by the environmental watchdog in 2021 and 2025 that he did not have the necessary flood risk activity permits to do the work, BBC News reported.

Ms Marland has lived in her home by the riverside for more than 30 years.

She claimed her neighbour had cut a 90 metre channel through her land as well as a ramp to allow access for his digger. 

She said the works had been part of a four year campaign against her. 

'He's not asked for permission or given a reason why he's doing it,' she said. 'It seems he does what he wants and gets away with it.' 

'When you can't get anywhere with anybody because nobody does what they're supposed to do, you're in tears, you're shaking and angry.'

One wildlife campaigner claimed the digging had also affected habitat for kingfishers in the area.

Mr Bancroft admitted to the BBC that he could not afford the permits needed to carry out the works.

However he said he had stopped the work in July 2024 when ordered to do so by the Environment Agency. 

He also claimed he had not affected anyone else's land. 

The Environment Agency did not respond to the criticism from residents, but said it would investigate reports of unauthorised work.

Local resident Pauline Riley said she was 'frustrated' by their response, claiming they had not even visited the river to examine the damage.

She said: 'After four years of us telling them what he's done, they've done nothing. They've not even been down to the river to look at what he's done.'

Last week another neighbour row in Oxfordshire was ignited over an 'unsightly' bin.

Stuart Hunt took Kevin and Kelly Elizabeth Harrison-Ellis to court in June, complaining their 'unsightly' bungalow extension had ruined his picturesque view.

The Harrison-Ellises argued that Mr Hunt did not complain when they initially added a first floor to their £1million home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, in 2020.

Instead, it was only after the family placed a small wooden bin store on their driveway two years later, that Mr Hunt and his partner Anita objected to the development.

The legal battle ended up in the High Court, where the Harrison-Ellises were ordered to pay their neighbours £25,000. They were also forced to use their daughter's university savings to fork out more than £100,000 in solicitors' fees.

However, the Daily Mail revealed that Mr Hunt was himself threatened with legal action over accusations he 'bulldozed' down a lamppost outside his £2.3million house and fought against having it put back.

Neighbours on the leafy private road alleged that Mr Hunt 'took the law into his own hands' and removed it back in March 2022. They say he then 'deliberately obstructed' the contractors who were sent by the council to install a replacement.

Documents show that the street lamp was removed in March 2022, while building work was taking place at Mr Hunt's property.

It is understood that the old lamppost, which has since been replaced and moved to a new location, was situated in front of where he wanted to install a new drive.

Goring Parish Council's position - the local authority which has jurisdiction for lighting on the road - was that the lamppost was 'unlawfully removed'.

However, Mr Hunt disputed this version of events, in turn sparking an 18-month row with the council.

He claimed that the lamppost was taken down after he sent an email to Oxfordshire County Council, asking them to remove it in October 2021.

However, the county council, which is not in charge of lighting on the private road, did not respond to the request.

Mr Hunt also argued that all the lampposts in the village were in the process of being replaced - evidence that court documents show was accepted by the judge.

Nevertheless, in September last year Goring Parish Council approved budget for legal action against Mr Hunt 'regarding the unauthorised removal of a streetlamp'.

It is understood that a compromise was eventually reached and the lamppost was replaced later that month in a location approved by him.

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