Bunhill: Range war at Tesco

IT IS not only analysts who have put Tesco in the dog-house. Barbie Campbell-Cole is not too keen on the supermarket group either. Ms Campbell-Cole has the misfortune to live behind a Tesco store in London and has been involved in a dispute with it over a piece of land at the edge of her garden for several years.

Despite acquiring a 25-year lease on the plot, Ms Campbell-Cole was unable to dissuade Tesco from treating it as its own. With monotonous regularity Ms Campbell-Cole would find her fence removed and her proprietorial rights infringed, so much so that she took up legal arms against the retailing giant.

The latter had to be taken to the doors of the courts before backing down last January, though that was still an expensive exercise. In addition to pounds 50,000-worth of damages, it had to fork out pounds 20,000 for Ms Campbell-Cole's costs.

That looked to be the end of it. Until last week, that is, when Ms Campbell-Cole was awakened by the trill of pneumatic drills and emerged to find her land under attack yet again. The last time she saw her fence it was disappearing down the road on the back of a lorry.

Sounds like Sir Ian MacLaurin, Tesco's chairman, may have to pick up the company cheque book again.

(Photograph omitted)