With allegations of screaming children, loud music being played at night and hot tub high jinks, a planning dispute at a luxury rural holiday retreat has all the ingredients for a Hollywood screwball comedy.
But the feud between business owners Richard and Victoria Kerrison and their screenwriter neighbour Helen Crawley – whose credits include 2008’s highly-acclaimed apartheid-era drama Skin, starring Sam Neill and Sophie Okonedo – is no laughing matter.
The parties have been at war since 2019, when Ms Crawley claimed her home was suffering from a loss of water pressure in a shared borehole because of the three rental properties next door.
The Kerrisons denied this was the case but the local authority became involved after she went on to complain about noise.
This then triggered a long-running legal battle over alleged planning irregularities at the secluded rural Norfolk destination that has cost the couple £90,000 in legal fees.
The Kerrisons bought dilapidated Roundabout Farm, a former dairy business, in Thurning for £79,000 in 1997 and spent £500,000 turning it into an upmarket holiday destination with countryside views
Victoria and Richard Kerrison (pictured) at their £1.85m home and business in Norfolk
Mr Kerrison, 63, and his 62-year-old wife have now decided to sell up, putting their home and business on the market for £1.85 million (Photo by Owen Sennitt)
The cabin home where Victoria and Richard live at Roundabout Farm
They have, by and large, prevailed after a ruling by the Planning Inspectorate but have been told they can no longer operate their most profitable let – Courtyard Barn, which has five en suite bedrooms, a kitchen, lounge, snooker room, summer house, not tub and barbecue and was available for £805 per night.
Disheartened by the experience, they have now decided to sell up, putting their home and business on the market for £1.85 million.
Mr Kerrison said: ‘As a warning to anyone wishing to fight a local council – you need deep pockets. With one swipe of a pen, they (North Norfolk District Council) has destroyed our business.
‘It is such a peaceful, tranquil place and we will miss it.’
Of Ms Crawley, who lives with wife Helena Montgomery, he claimed: ‘We’ve got a neighbour whose aim was to shut us down. That’s what she’s done with our biggest property.
‘I’m quite a bullish character. I can walk past our neighbours and not speak to them but my wife is a bit more sensitive.’
Mr Kerrison, 63, and his 62-year-old wife bought dilapidated Roundabout Farm, a former dairy business, in Thurning for £79,000 in 1997 and spent £500,000 turning it into an upmarket holiday destination with countryside views.
The Kerrisons moved the hot tub further away from their neighbours to minimise the noise (Picture by Owen Sennitt)
The late John Hurt and his wife Anwen pictured together in 2012. Lady Anwen supported the Kerrisons’ case
In addition to Courtyard Barn, there was The Orangery, an award-winning bed and breakfast, and two-bedroom Pear Tree Cottage.
Two log cabins on the site have central heating, bathrooms, a gym and laundry room.
There is also an equestrian facility with four acres of paddocks, stable block and a large all-weather arena.
But problems began when Ms Crawley, 55, complained about the collapsed borehole, while Mr Kerrison, 63, insisted there was ‘no evidence’ his business was to blame.
‘Because the neighbour had a beef with us about that she decided to make out we were noisy neighbours,’ he said.
‘We moved the hot tub as far away from her property as we could get it but there were never raucous parties going on.’
New house rules were also introduced for guests, even though the couple insisted they weren’t making too much noise.
Mrs Garrison, who previously ran a restaurant with her husband, said: ‘We live next door and would always have someone on-site in case it got too loud.’
But the complaints triggered an investigation by North Norfolk District Council over multiple planning breaches and enforcement action was taken.
Officials claimed Courtyard Barn was let without the correct permission, while The Orangery also lacked permission, although it would be regarded as an extension of Pear Tree Cottage, which did have the correct status.
The Courtyard Barn at Roundtree Farm, which was the focus of enforcement action by North Norfolk District Council (Picture by Owen Sennitt)
Inside Courtyard Barn, which the Kerrisons converted into a home
The Orangery, which was used as a separate B&B, faced enforcement action (Picture by Owen Sennitt)
The spacious lounge area in the Orangery of Richard and Victoria’s guest house
In a further blow, the Kerrisons were told they could not live in their home, a three-bed log cabin known as ‘The Office’, because it did not have permission to be used for residential purposes.
The couple appealed to the Planning Inspectorate and were backed on all matters except Courtyard Barn, which must close in November, the Eastern Daily Press reports.
Their pyrrhic victory with their home was achieved with the help of another movie business contact – Lady Anwen Hurt, the widow of Academy Award-nominated actor Sir John Hurt and a television and cinema commercials producer – who attested they had lived there for more than ten years, making it immune from action.
Her testimony included a photo of the Midnight Express and Alien star buying a puppy from the Kerrisons in 2011.
Mr Kerrison added: ‘We tried to find compromises but the council wouldn’t have it.
‘To this day, we have never had a written complaint from our neighbours. We just heard about it from the council.
‘The Crawleys even rented out the barn for guests on their wedding day in 2006. They were our third guests.’
Scots-born mother-of-one Ms Crawley worked as a BBC script editor in the 1990s but switched to writing after moving to New York.
She has a strong interest in geopolitical stories and her screenplay for Hearts and Minds, a drama about an embedded war photographer who leads a platoon of young soldiers to safety after their helicopter crashes in Afghanistan, was bought by Leonardo Di Caprio’s production company, Appian Way.
There was no answer on Sunday at her low-rise modern cottage conversion with glass extension, despite evidence someone was in.
North Norfolk District Council said it was considering the Planning Inspectorate’s ruling.