A WOMAN 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, Sylvanna Ho, 25, was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £2,500 costs for 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 dispute, which started with a complaint about cooking odours and ended up with both sides installing CCTV cameras.

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

Ho must now take down the fence, or council officers will have it removed.

Ho's neighbour Paula Burden, 51, said: "I am over the moon. It went up slowly, bit-by-bit. Every time I went out, I came back and found another bit up. 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: "Some years ago they received complaints about cooking smells from their property, and some complaints were made to Cherwell District Council.

"There then appears to have been a period when Dr and Mrs Ho and Sylvanna were targeted dog excrement was left on the front lawn, and household refuse.

"On one occasion they were burgled and lost a number of possessions and their mail had been tampered with.

"They felt their peaceful existence had been shattered and they were living with some degree of terror."

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 of their own in their garden and the Hos subsequently 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."

Mrs Burden, who has lived in the crescent for 14 years, denied allegations of racial abuse and leaving dog excrement in the garden. She said: "I am now scared stiff to do anything I can't light my barbecue without having the council round or the police."

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