{"id":122206,"date":"2026-07-04T07:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T07:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/122206\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T07:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T07:54:11","slug":"neighbour-row-as-homeowner-reported-to-council-after-erecting-section-of-berlin-wall-in-his-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/122206\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbour row as homeowner reported to council after erecting section of Berlin Wall in his garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

A south London homeowner has been reported to his local council after installing a 3.6-metre section of the Berlin Wall in his back garden.<\/p>\n

Steven Thorpe, 65, transported the 2.6-tonne concrete slab to his Herne Hill home earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The historic structure features graffiti reading “f**k cops” and “Crime signs of Europe”.<\/p>\n

Neighbours have now lodged complaints with the council about what they claim are unauthorised building works.<\/p>\n

One anonymous complainant told The Telegraph: “It is quite ugly, it’s an eyesore. We’re a bit up in arms about it. It is a slab of concrete that has been pulled out of a dump.”<\/p>\n

Mr Thorpe, however, vowed the opposite.<\/p>\n

“To me, I think it is beautiful, but each to their own. I didn\u2019t know it was offending anyone,” he said.<\/p>\n

The 65-year-old witnessed the Berlin Wall’s collapse firsthand during a 1989 rugby tour with the Clifton Rats, when they played against the British Army team.<\/p>\n

\"Berlin<\/p>\n

Steven Thorpe erected a hulking slab of the iconic wall in his back garden<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

He told The Telegraph: “We were there when the wall came down. It was amazing, it was enormous \u2013 the biggest event in my lifetime.<\/p>\n

“The wall had significance for me. People were knocking chunks off and taking them home in their hand luggage.”<\/p>\n

Born in 1961, the same year the wall was erected, Mr Thorpe discovered sections were available through his friend James Hervey-Bathurst.<\/p>\n

The pair visited farmer Peter Clausen in Siggelkow, Germany last February – where hundreds of wall sections were stored.<\/p>\n

Mr Thorpe said he was unaware the structure required planning permission, considering it a piece of art.<\/p>\n

NEIGHBOUR ROWS – READ MORE:<\/p>\n

\"Berlin<\/p>\n

Mr Thorpe discovered sections of the Berlin Wall were available to buy – and promptly did<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

A neighbour visited on the night he installed it, demanding he move it because it was ruining their view.<\/p>\n

The wall was erected on February 10 and buried slightly to reduce its height to 3.1 metres.<\/p>\n

Mr Thorpe planted trees around the slab, hoping to block his neighbours’ sightlines.<\/p>\n

But after warning letters about the unlicensed structure, he submitted a retrospective planning application.<\/p>\n

A council officer is scheduled to inspect the property on July 15.<\/p>\n

\"Berlin<\/p>\n

A council officer is scheduled to inspect the property – and the slab – in a matter of days<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

He told The Telegraph: “I really don’t want to move it.”<\/p>\n

Mr Hervey-Bathurst, who owns the Eastnor Estate, bought his own section and installed it at Eastnor Deer Park near Ledbury in Herefordshire.<\/p>\n

He told the BBC in December: “I was fascinated to learn that original sections of the wall were still available. Seeing them first-hand made me determined to bring one here, where it could be experienced by the public.”<\/p>\n

He added: “I hope older visitors will appreciate what a serious and imposing barrier it truly was, and that it will introduce schoolchildren to such an important chapter in European history.”<\/p>\n

A Southwark Council spokesman said: “We have received a planning complaint about a section of wall installed in Dulwich. We will investigate the complaint and take any appropriate action in line with the national planning process.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A south London homeowner has been reported to his local council after installing a 3.6-metre section of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[99],"tags":[13553,112,190,114,60288,38,10308],"class_list":["post-122206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-berlin","tag-across-the-uk","tag-berlin","tag-germany","tag-london","tag-neighbour-rows","tag-news","tag-sgg"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116860634083693750","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}