81-year-old won a court fight to reopen her family's path home. Then 54 concrete blocks appeared at her gate
'They tried to put us off, but they messed with the wrong ones,' Ball said after her court victory. A new obstacle soon appeared near her gate.
Imagine heading out for a brief errand, only to return home and find an unsightly metal fence cemented across your own back garden gate. For most of the people, this is just a nightmare, but for 81-year-old Helene Ball, it was the reality back in April 2023. The retired schoolteacher discovered that Derbyshire County Council had abruptly barricaded the 98-centimeter boundary gap behind her George Road property in Matlock. It was the path her family had been using uninterrupted since 1967. Refusing to let local bureaucracy push her around, the grandmother stood her ground, dragging the council into a three-year fight in court, as reported by DerbyshireLive on September 17, 2026.
A sudden barrier emerged
The trouble began on April 26, 2023, when Ball found a metal fence panel cemented across the gap in her back garden wall. She soon realized that Derbyshire County Council put it up without warning, blocking the path into the neighboring Cavendish Road car park. What surprised her the most was that her family had been using this path for decades. So, it was quite shocking for the council to shut it all of a sudden. To make matters worse, it came just two weeks after her husband's second death anniversary. Her son, David Ball, called it a "completely unnecessary act of aggression." Meanwhile, she stated that she just wanted to live peacefully.
The expensive battle
The situation escalated further when the council claimed that no one had access rights to the land, as it was up for sale for a housing development. Refusing to back down, Mrs. Ball launched a legal battle against them. This fight continued for three long years and cost her roughly $66,100. Her son told British Brief the council tried to "shut down every form of resolution or negotiation and blanket denied our claim, with three years of distress caused to an 81-year-old woman." The panel came down within a year, but her vehicle access remained blocked the whole time.
Victory did come at last when the First-tier Tribunal ruled finally in Mrs. Ball's favor, confirming that she had earned the prescriptive rights over 59 years of continuous use. Judge Robert Brown criticized the council's legal team, calling their approach "surprisingly combative" and their arguments "totally irrelevant." The court ordered the rights added to the property deed and told the council to cover her legal costs. "They tried to put us off, but they messed with the wrong ones," Ball said, reflecting on the massive win.
Fresh conflict over 'LEGO Blocks'
The celebration was short-lived, however, as a fresh dispute erupted right outside Mrs. Ball's gate. The council placed 54 two-foot-tall, LEGO-style concrete blocks along the road and grass verge, saying they were meant to protect the area from unauthorized parking and damage. Ball says the blocks near her home have made it impossible for her to drive up the road and turn around. "I felt a mixture of anger and then wanting to laugh at how petty they are," she told the BBC. Her son and her legal team are now investigating whether these blocks are breaching the court orders. Meanwhile, Mrs. Ball, even though she is happy she's now famous, wants to just live her "remaining years in peace."
Trust in local governments deteriorating
This entire fiasco highlights why people no longer completely trust their local government. In a 2025 Ipsos poll, 39% of UK adults said local councils work badly. Ball’s frustration is more immediate: after winning the right to use the route behind her home, she says the new blocks still prevent her from driving along it.
The council's actions are condemnable
The people were equally disappointed with the council in the comments. Christopher Teague pointed out, "Sounds like the Council erected the fence to define the boundary to enable a sell-off of the land...." At the same time, Louise Smith pointed out, "Funny how they acknowledge it after they are ordered to; that's how the councils work—think they are right until the courts tell them otherwise. Would save a lot of money if they just worked with people rather than bully them."
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