London's High Court heard Maria Sarra's £570,000 home was 'uninhabitable'. Lawyers for neighbours David and Katherine Harvey called her claim 'absurd'A civil war has erupted in London's trendy Notting Hill after a glamorous stylist sued her property guru neighbour over claims the dust from his building work spoiled her £14,000 designer bag collection.
But lawyers for the couple are denying the building works caused 'dust ingress' to Ms Serra's flat and have slammed her massive damages claim as 'frankly absurd'. But they fell out spectacularly in 2016 and 2017, around the time Mr Harvey, 51, had commissioned workers to build a 'conservatory-type' extension at the rear of his property.Edward Blakeney, for Mr and Mrs Harvey, described the building works as 'the genesis of the present dispute, with the claimant alleging that they caused substantial interference with her use and enjoyment of the ground floor flat'.
'Ms Serra kept the flat in good condition. It was free of dust prior to the works. There is no rational explanation for the presence of dust inside the flat other than it must have come from the works below. The barrister said she is seeking repair costs of £9,685, future repair costs of £105,110, indemnity against a service charge of £7,777 and an as yet unspecified amount for damaged fashion items including 26 handbags - worth over £14,500 - that she says now need either replacement or costly repairs.
'The defendants deny all liability as a matter of principle. Further support was provided for the ground floor flat as a result of the works.' And he described 'the scope of the damages claimed' as 'remarkable', saying: 'The reason she is claiming damages for items that may seem trifling and that are still functional is because of her particular line of work.
He told the judge that Ms Serra's claim was 'set up to fail,' since her own particulars of claim suggested the dust might have come from other sources as well.
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Source: DailyMailUK - 🏆 7. / 90 Read more »