NEIGHBOUR SEEKS DEMOLITION OF JUSTIN SALMON’S GARDEN STRUCTURES

Andrianna Neophytou is asking a court to order Justin and Karen Salmon to demolish structures in their garden in Tollers Lane, Coulsdon. The dispute concerns a 24ft garden room that Justin Salmon built in 2018. A tribunal ruled that the room breached the couple’s lease and permission for a pergola and simple toolshed. Neophytou says Salmon’s subsequent alterations did not bring the structures into compliance. The Salmons deny a continuing breach and say the structures now amount to a garden shed and pergola.

The original room contained a television, bar, plastered walls, carpeting, furniture and an electric doorbell. The Salmons used it as extra living space during the Covid lockdowns. After Neophytou complained, Salmon converted it into an open-sided bar on the same footprint. He also replaced a sign reading “Man Cave” with one reading “Shed for Domestic Purposes”. Neophytou owns the freehold of the Salmons’ ground-floor maisonette and lives above them, with her garden behind theirs.

At Mayors and City County Court, Judge Nicholas Parfitt heard that Neophytou had granted Salmon permission to build a pergola in 2017. Lawyers have predicted that the case could generate legal bills exceeding £100,000. Salmon is president and senior secretary of non-league Sutton Common Rovers FC, having previously played for and coached the club. His father, Alan Salmon, founded the club in 1978.