Fleming heirs win battle court over `worthless` land dispute

The family of the James Bond author Ian Fleming yesterday won a costly boundary dispute with their neighbours, the relatives of Lord Lucan - reports The Scotsman.

A judge at Oxford County Court ruled that Lucan's descendants must replant trees they felled on a narrow strip of land to which both sides lay claim.

After the decision to award the Fleming dynasty £7,000 in damages - leaving aside the matter of legal costs estimated at £120,000 - Lucan's cousin, Victor Bingham, 40, vowed to fight on. "Many people lose at county court level - the High Court is much more fair. We are planning to appeal," the publishing director from Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, said. "There is nothing in the judgment that's beyond overturning. There is always the second bite at the cherry."

Over the past 18 months, the two families have been embroiled in a dispute over a strip of land beside the cottage where Ian Fleming is reputed to have dreamt up his first Bond novel, Casino Royale.

Kiln Cottage in Oxfordshire was bought in 1960 from the author's brother Peter by the family of Lord Lucan, who disappeared mysteriously in 1974.

The run-down, 17th-century cottage, inhabited most recently by Mr Bingham's aunt and co-defendant Rosemary Mackenzie, 63, borders the Nettlebed Estate, which the Flemings bought in the early 1900s.

However, relations between the neighbours have soured drastically of late.

At the centre of the grievance is a 5ft-wide strip of muddy grass running between the two properties.

Thanks to `JP` for the alert.

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