A man was left so distraught by a bitter war with his neighbour over an 8ft shared driveway he has been forced to move, friends claim.
Robert Medcalfe spent thousands battling Italian businessman Alisson Roberto Teixeira after the latter plotted to build a £2m home in his back garden and use the shared drive in Dollis Hill, North London, to access it.
Mr Medcalfe claimed he was never consulted about the plans and launched an exhausting two-year campaign against his neighbour.
He eventually won the battle, after successfully appealing to his local council, and blocked the extension plans. But pals say it came at a personal cost.
Neighbour Reza, told MailOnline the fight took a serious toll on Robert, explaining: ‘He sold up because he had so much stress over the last couple of years with what was going on.’
Robert Medcalfe (pictured) spent thousands battling Italian businessman Alisson Roberto Teixeira after the latter plotted to build a £2 million pad in his back garden
The previously contested site (marked by a pink square) was set behind the two properties and surrounded by other back gardens
He added: ‘It just gradually built up and I think eventually he couldn’t handle the stress and aggravation any longer, that’s why he’s moved.
‘It started off with a one and a half storey building in the back garden, then it went to a storey plus a loft conversion and a basement believe it or not.
‘It’s a shared drive, you can’t have access to a house via a shared drive, it’s meant to be for both houses.
‘They took it to appeal but the appeal was turned down eventually. I don’t know what the plan is, whether they’ll go back and redo it, I don’t know.
‘If it went to a two-and-a-half storey, that’s quite high. That’s quite a big building.
‘I think it was going to be an HMO as well, bring so many extra cars and completely change the whole environment.
‘The basement had a cellar, wine bar, the only thing that was missing was a disco and you could have a good time in there.
‘It is ridiculous, someone in this area, it made no sense for all the other buildings.
‘It’s a very quiet area and would change the atmosphere of the place. They went to appeal, which I think is as far as you can take it.
‘Everyone was against it.’
Pictured: The shared driveway between the two homes in Dollis Hill, North London
Pictured: An aerial view shows the land behind the two properties where Mr Teixeira planned to build the home
Documents showed Mr Teixeira, who rents out the property to a group of Brazilian moped delivery drivers, owned the plot of land where he hoped to build a three bed house of multiple occupancy with a carpark.
The home would feature a substantial basement boasting a wine cellar, games room and a bar, with plans showing it spread over two and a half storeys.
A garage would need to be knocked down to make way for the home.
Concerns came about over the requirement for future residents to use Mr Teixeira and Mr Medcalfe’s shared driveway to get to the property.
Mr Medcalfe said he was never consulted over this plan, which he said ‘relies on my consent’, which would also see construction vehicles travel up and down it during the build.
This would prevent him accessing his own drive and by default, his own home and garage.
There were also fears emergency services would not be able to gain access to a new house at the back, as the driveway is only 2.7 metres wide, neighbours told MailOnline.
Residents had accused the application of being ‘outrageous’ and another blasted it for being ‘full of inaccuracies, misinformation and undeclared facts’.
It also saw Mr Medcalfe launch a Change.org petition which garnered 210 signatures in an attempt to block the plans.
He told MailOnline in July 2023: ‘How can you try to do something with someone’s property without speaking with them and getting permission?
‘This is not what neighbours do.’
Amid a torrent of applications, rejections and appeals from Mr Teixeira, Brent Council concluded the plans were ‘oversized’ and ‘too prominent’ and threw it out.
Pictured: Plans show what the proposed three-storey dwelling would have looked like
Pictured: As well has having three floors above ground, the proposals also included plans for a basement level
The plans would have also required builders to dig three metres underground and this sparked major concern from residents on adjacent Dollis Hill Road, who feared their houses, perched on a 45 degree slope, would undergo ground swelling subsidence and collapse.
One such neighbour said: ‘Bobby clearly had most to lose.
‘He was already unhappy about the noise levels of the tenants in the neighbouring property (owned by Teixeira).
‘It clearly would change or diminish the value of his property or the way he lives.
‘He was going to use the joint drive and he was going to have a house with a car park.
‘Our issue back here was that we were worried whether they had done the right assessment in terms of subsidence.
‘This was going to involve some deep level digging. It did sound like they were going to go very deep because they wanted to build quite a massive structure, a lot of that underground, as well as a car park.
‘We were a bit worried about what would happen to our properties.
‘As well as losing privacy. There were various grounds for objecting to it.
‘They did cut down some lovely trees which is a shame.’
The neighbour said the row is over as the plans were thrown out by the council.
He added how he never came face to face with Mr Teixeira.
When MailOnline visited the property on Wednesday – a quiet street filed with large 1940s semi-detached homes, Rob’s old home was in a state of refurbishment and neighbours said decorators had been in on Tuesday.
No one was at the property owned by Mr Teixeira.
Brent Council were approached for comment.
