The High Court has ordered the sale of a £1 million London home belonging to a Parliament bell ringer after he failed to pay £129,500 owed to neighbours following a dispute over a gate.
Adrian Udal, 66, removed a roller gate and door leading to Nicholas and Lisa Patrick-Hiley’s mews cottage in Fulham in August 2023, shortly after the couple completed their purchase of the £2 million property.
The Patrick-Hileys had intended to turn the house in Disbrowe Road into a retirement home. Their legal battle with Mr Udal has continued for three years.
Mr Udal’s property is next to and above the entrance to the mews. Although he owned the land on which the gate stood, the court ruled that the couple had a legal right to use the drive and passageway leading to their home.
At an earlier hearing, Judge Nicholas Parfitt described the removal of the fixtures as a “carefully pre-planned” act of “wanton destruction”. Mr Udal was ordered to pay the couple £10,000 in June 2025, followed by £85,000 in legal costs, with interest continuing to accrue.
Deputy Master Martin Dray has now granted the Patrick-Hileys an order for possession and sale of Mr Udal’s home after hearing that he had paid nothing towards the judgment debt or their legal expenses.
“The claimants are out of pocket and owed a considerable amount of money, which is ever increasing,” the judge said.
“The defendant has made no attempt to repay any part of it…quite the contrary, he has disclaimed any liability to pay one penny piece.”
The debt from the original case stood at about £104,500, while Mr Udal was ordered to pay a further £25,000 in costs arising from the latest hearing.
Deputy Master Dray said there had been a “frosty conversation” between the neighbours after Christmas last year, during which Mr Udal made clear that he had no intention of making payments. He had already lost an attempt to appeal the earlier judgment.
Mr Udal did not engage with the proceedings concerning the sale of his property, but the judge said he could not be allowed to “derail” the case. The order was therefore made in his absence.
Possession of the house must be handed over within 28 days. The order will not be enforced if Mr Udal pays the outstanding sum before October 2.
During the earlier trial, the court heard that Mr Patrick-Hiley arrived at the property shortly after midday on the day of completion and found Mr Udal and another man dismantling the gates.
The couple had been told about a disagreement between Mr Udal and the previous occupant, but believed it had been resolved. They had offered Mr Udal the opportunity to comment on plans for “better looking and more functional gates”, before seeing him remove the existing fixtures.
Mr Udal said he was exercising his rights as freeholder of the land. Judge Parfitt rejected that argument, describing him as a “poor witness who came across as preferring his own perception of what might be helpful to his own case, regardless of any objective reality”.
Mr Udal is a veteran bell ringer and was appointed secretary of the belfry at St Margaret’s Church, next to Westminster Abbey, in 2021. The church serves as a place of worship for the Houses of Parliament.
