A woman yesterday told how she felt she was 'living in a prison' as her neighbour was told to pull down an illegal 2m-spiked fence after a four-year dispute.

At Oxford Crown Court yesterday, Sylvanna Ho, 25, was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £2,500 costs after admitting ignoring a planning order to take down the fence around her garden in Tweed Crescent, Bicester.

The court case was the culmination of a four-year neighbour dispute, which started with a complaint about cooking odours and ended up with both sides installing CCTV cameras and a fight over the fence.

Judge Julian Hall heard Ho failed to remove the fence, despite losing an appeal to the Government against Cherwell District Council's enforcement notice.

Ho must now remove the fence or council officers will force their way into her house to take it down.

Ho's next door neighbour Paula Burden, 51, said: "I am over the moon that the fence has now got to come down the sooner the better.

"It went up slowly, bit-by-bit. Every time I went out, I came back and found another bit up. It's just escalated over the years. It's very, very upsetting. I would just burst into floods of tears. It still feels like living in a prison."

Anthony Johnston, prosecuting, told Judge Hall: "Unsightly barbs were added to the top of an existing fence. It was thought to be harmful to the visual amenity of the area."

Alistair Grainger, defending, said it was believed the Ho family had been subjected to ongoing racial harassment.

He said on the advice of police they put up two CCTV cameras, but neighbours Mr and Mrs Burden felt they were intrusive. He said the Burdens put up CCTV cameras in their own garden and the Hos put up the hoardings to protect their privacy.

He said: "Miss Ho appears before you as she is the owner of the property, but her parents say they are the people who erected the fence because they wanted to protect themselves and their daughter."

Describing the fence as "cack handed" Judge Hall said the family should have removed the fence after losing their appeal.

Mrs Burden, who has lived in the crescent for 14 years, denied allegations of racial abuse and leaving dog excrement in the garden.

Ho and parents Paula and Kwok Hang Ho would not comment.