How wide was the passage and what was the surface before any works took place, any gates in the walls?..................what is the situation now?
Sorry I didn't mean to be rude ...
Passageway running across the back was / is 3 feet wide
Front to back passageway is 4 feet wide
Current surfaces a bit of a mix
Surface of bit where the walls have gone matches the patio into which it has been incorporated
A gate is at our end (for our use only - no one has access or ROW across our garden)
Neighbours have put a gate at their end (where previously there would not have been a gate). They have a padlock on it which makes operating the catch a bit difficult but it is not locked (I think that argument was had with our predecessors).
We have access that is not a problem. But you have to feel quite 'thick-skinned' to use it. If the walls were there none of this would be an issue - we could come and go as we pleased.
They had a view on the access (ie that they allowed it as a favour) - and we did not dispute it (simple life) until we had to discuss (as a courtesy) our need for access for a building job. Then (when they were refusing) I had to point out that actually we had a ROW and they were not in a position to refuse. (In fact we had tried to arrange it so that we would have to use the ROW as little as possible - if at all).
So that's the situation. We are disappointed in the Enforcement Team's response - from our experience their decisions seem somewhat arbitrary.
Thanks again to all those who have responded.