A trespassing cat has sparked a duel between two neighbours over the size of their garden fences.

Keith Quartermain, 52, of Austin Place, Abingdon, has objected to his neighbour David Quick's application for retrospective planning permission for a fence around his property.

Mr Quartermain built his own staggered fence in 1997 to stop next door's cat prowling round his property.

Next door, Mr Quick reacted by building a taller, level fence at 6ft all the way along.

Now Mr Quartermain wants his neighbour's fence replaced with a staggered one - like his - to meet planning officers' requirements because the Vale of White Horse District Council had asked him to do the same. Mr Quartermain, a delivery van driver, said: "The cat was always on my property. When I complained, Mr Quick said he had sat the cat on his lap and talked to it.

"He said he had talked it over with the cat, and the cat had agreed to keep away."

Mr Quick's wife said: "We moved here first. Our cat is 14 years old. She is very old and very slow and sleeps in the house most of the day.

"There are two other black cats in the area. That's really all I can say. We keep ourselves to ourselves and get on with our own busy lives and take no part in any of this."

The fence row is the latest in a series of disputes between Mr Quartermain and his neighbours. Relations have become so strained in Austin Place a third neighbour has installed a video camera to keep an eye on feline and other activities.

Mr Quartermain has even put up a warning sign in response to complaints.

The Vale of White Horse rejected the Quicks' application for retrospective planning permission and is considering asking them to pull the fence down.

Story date: Thursday 29 April

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.