they told you about the 'demolition' so I think I'd go round/text them and say, 'thanks for warning me about your demolition plans but digging up plants is not an option. I will take photos and then any damage caused by the work done, I will expect you to pay to put right.'

I'd move the ornaments as that is a sensible precaution to take.

not 100% sure about boundary wall law but if I damaged next door's garden [we have a party hedge] I'd expect to put it right/make good.

Sorry this is so stressful for you Jen.

Thanks Seaburngirl. I have moved my bottle. When I went around there I told them I couldn't move plants. We have had SO many problems with them, mainly with not taking us I to consideration and not taking to us. She told me that us expecting to be told about their plans to a boundry wall was a generation thing. That they were too busy with children and jobs to keep having to tell us things. Sorry feeling a rant, like when he put a digger through our mains water, shut it off and then went into his house without even telling us. Tonight he said that was due to him being RAF and he is trained to deal and sort out a problem, not communicate with people. She just ranted at me, not letting me get a word in. That is why I quoted the party wall act which states that notice should be given and start date and finish date given. Over the digger through our water pipes, she told me tonight that I was lucky that they hadn't sued us for the cost of repairing it. That if I wanted to make a fuss, then she would cause problems for us about us being Gunsmiths working from home. Which is all above board as of course we have to be due to it being gun. God I hope they move!!!!!

Am so sorry to hear that your neighbours are so rude and are unable to communicate like sensible, considerate neighbours. I have been through it myself. It is very upsetting because you just want to work together and not have to worry about what they will do next! ?

Thanks Amsterdam. I know your OH is in RAF. Bet he wishes he could use the excuse of his training for not talking to people lol. She said that we were the worse neighbours they have ever had. Always interfering with their plans lol. We only say about work that is on boundary or when we end up with their builders in our garden for 2 days and not even a word from them after. And i only said anything when i went over last time to find out what they planned to di about our water mains. You are so right. We do worry about what they will do next. It's like this wall. It had a big crack that I can see day light through and he is doing all the work himself

I suspect you may need to take advice regarding the legal situation, and that the only thing they're going to respond to is a letter from a lawyer or maybe a surveyor/architects, laying down the law. It sounds like she just says anything off the top of her head in an aggressive manner so you just go away and are too nervous to tackle them again, and what she says won't necessarily be legally correct. Sometimes, we just have to accept that someone's just obnoxious, they're never going to change, and the only thing that keeps them in check is the force of the law... In my experience, trying to be friendly or pleasant to nasty people gets you nowhere, they just perceive that behaviour as weakness, its best to be polite but firm if you have to speak to them and, if necessary, use the legal route. As for your plants, any fool knows if damage is caused to anything that belongs to you while they are having works carried out, plants or anything else, its their liability, not yours.

You are so right Bamboo. I only posted as they sent txt at 4.30pm and I didn't see it till 6pm. Being Saturday and txt saying they are starting the work this morning so no solicitor would be open. One of the many issues was the water main but just before that was them planning to sight a new installation of a LPG tank within a metre of our front wall using our wall as a blast wall, again without even talking to us. Only found out when we saw him digging a hole for the base. The company that they were using doesn't have the best reputation and didn't care about the regulations of sighting tanks. We had to find them on net on Health and Safety website, print them off and put them through their door. It meant that they had to 're dig the hole further away, have a smaller tank but now it is closer to their driveway. He then put a wooden crash barrier around it, putting one of the really thick post right up against our wall, digging out some of the wall footing to put it in. We have left that one, choosing which fight to fight. Problem with this work today is the rules about Boundry walls rather then Party walls is not so clear and they are using that saying that they don't have to tell us anything. They said only reason they txt yesterday was they didn't want damage done to my bottle as it is not replaceable and if they damaged it, they didn't want to have to pay for it. All we wanted, which I tried to tell them is that the wall has a big crack from top to bottom that you can see daylight through and we wanted to know that any work would be done properly and the wall made safe. Didn't sleep well, thinking of all the things she said like, how my younger dog got through another hedge into their back garden last summer and if it happens again then she will report me using the dangerous dog act as he is a German shepherd and have him put down as he was a danger to their children. When it happened, I notice straight away, got him back, blocked up the hole and apologised to them. Have lost count of how many times their dog has wondered out onto the main road and come into my front garden, which I said but her reply was their dog is a lab and not a German shepherd. We have now decided any communication will be done in writing so we have a record and this morning I went out early and taken a ton of photos of my plants and the wall. Put down some black sacks to catch hopefully any rubble that comes over as he tends to start outside DIY at 8am on Sunday mornings. Sorry rant over.

you have every right to rant. what made me smile is their threat to you over your business. you are gunsmiths I'd have thought anyone with half a brain would stay on your good side! [not suggesting that you'd wave a gun at them but really! :o))]

perhaps you are the first neighbour to expect respect and not cower from them. I was a working mum of 2 under 5 with a hubby on shifts it never stopped me from talking to neighbours.
they are just ignorant.
suing you over their damage that's a laugh, they are just throwing words out at you to scare you into 'rolling over'.
perhaps the next time they talk to you you may consider recording it on your mobile phone [I wouldn't know how but my girls do and do when faced with awkward situations with work bosses they do record conversations.]

Hope today isn't as bad as it seems its going to be.

What I would do is wait until they start the work and when they damage any of your property call the police and report the damage they should come out and stop them and warn them if they carry on they could be arrested for criminal damage

Seaburngirl, lol. Problem with us doing what we do for a living is we have to be whiter then white. That is why it was me going to talk to them and not Tim. He can't chance them saying that he was aggressive. What I think upset me the most was the threat of getting Shadow put down because he went into their garden once. I have spent the morning so far looking up about regulations of garden walls. Well, it wasn't really a garden wall due to originally it was a outhouse and coal storage but they have taken down all the side walls so now it is a single brick about 8ft tall wall with a bit of roofing which is what he is taking down today. What I found is that a single brick wall, especially with no supporting piers should not be taller then 6ft in my area. It also has a zig zag crack from top to bottom that I can see daylight through. It says that it is not a DIY job and that just redoing pointing is not making it safe. Saying all that, being a Sunday, there is nothing I can do and means I can't even let my dogs out in the back garden while he is working just in case it collapsed on them.

Steveg, thank you for that. That's an idea. Only last month I finally got around to start planting up that area and spent over £100 on new plants which I have still got the receipt for so if any damage is done, I can prove cost.

Get advice from the proper channels to what they can & cant do, maybe a visit to Citizens Advice to start with. Good Luck x

Look, something to realise is this - when you speak to people like this about something they're doing, they will become defensive and aggressive,and chuck a lot of red herrings in the way as a distraction technique. They do this because they feel vulnerable and threatened, and don't have enough social skills and confidence to negotiate the situation politely or adequately, because they are inadequate. So they puff themselves up and become threatening and unpleasant instead, its the only thing they know how to do.
The accusatory stuff about the dogs was red herring material, its done to distract you from the point you were making in the first place, over which they clearly feel vulnerable or they wouldn't be doing the red herring thing, and to draw you into arguing about those side issues instead. The red herring technique (something similar called 'circular argument' in marriages) is common, but try not to get drawn into talking about those side issues, just concentrate and stick to the point of what you were saying originally, firmly and politely. And absolutely, record every conversation, and make it obvious you're doing so, nicely, or just hold the phone in your hand between you, recording.
Check your home insurances to see if legal cover is provided for disputes over walls and the like - and you should really be exercising a policy of zero tolerance, not deciding what to fight over and what not to, that just encourages them to keep pushing the boundaries. Its tiresome, but its a bit like having children - if you want to change their behaviour, its six months of zero tolerance and effort to retrain 'em. As for works on a Sunday, most borough councils have rules about when such work can be carried out, and it ain't on a Sunday, that I do know...

Here's a link to information on the Dangerous Dogs Act - as far as I know, the only place a German Shepherd is considered a member of that list is the States, not the UK, as you will see towards the bottom, unless this information is now out of date
https://www.caninejournal.com/dangerous-dogs-act/

Thanks Ladyessex. We had already we decided to contact Citizens advice tomorrow. As a 1st port of call.

Bamboo, once again a voice of reason. You are right. Her rant was to stop me being able to talk. As said, we have we decided to do all further communications in writing so have records. I know she was blowing wind when talking about Shadow and our busines, stupidity I let her threat about Shadow upset me even though I knew he is not on dangerous dog list. Just that she could threaten that.

Like you also say, we have decided we now run a zero tolerance and all their works involving us must follow gov. Regulation. Hadn't thought about our insurance. Will get Tim to look into that. As for him starting work today as he said he Would, as of yet, he hasn't start it yet so will wait and see if he does. Thanks for your really helpful advice.

Oh Jen I am so sorry this has started up again with your neighbours. I agree with Bamboo,this is very good advice.Try not to let it get you down,but I know its hard,we had very bad neighbours at our last house and they made my life hell.

Thank you Callie. Sorry to hear about your last neighbours. Glad that they are "last" so are no more. Tim and I said that it's just our luck when only really have one neighbour ?

Just a quick update. By 3pm it was all quiet next door. Around then I had to dive out to get some more compost and saw them coming home. At 4pm he started the work and only took an hr. Couldn't find out what times are allowed in our area as Council website had a notice on it to phone for information. No mess came over. Have not put my bottle back yet as it weights a ton and on the 1st of June the electricity company are coming to replace their pole which is about 3ft from the wall and Open Reach to remove their phone line from just above our plum tree and garden. With the wall having a big crack, I think it safer to keep my bottle out of harms way, just in case the vibrations from replacing the pole effect the wall. All that drama over something that could have been so simple if they just talked to us. Thanks again for all the advise given and "reading" my rants. Jen x

What a storm in a teacup, if it only took an hour.Still, at least its resolved for now...

Have you seen the information
Gov.Uk
Party wall and building work. If you haven't seen it is worth you looking at it on Internet.
I worked for the CAB for many years !

Good luck, Jen! Hope you have a peaceful summer in your garden after all the unpleasantness! Don't be intimidated by them.

Thank you Marjories, I had found it and had printed it and given to them when i went around and since it barely mentions boundry wall and the act is call the party wall, they told me it didn't apply to them, that is was their wall and could do what they wanted. It was only later when I did more digging that I found bits that says it includes boundry walls as well. Tried to give them that and that is when they started all the not very veiled threats about my dog and our business. At least it is all quiet now and finger crossed it stays that way.

Thank you Pennyfarthing, I do hope so. I won't be threatened by them. Due to them being so inconsiderate of us so many times now, what they hate is we find the information regarding our rights and give them a copy. I have never been like this but got to the stage where I won't put up with it anymore. Like their hedge, after asking for nearly 3 years for them to cut it as it had got to nearly 20ft and totally blocked the sun from my greenhouse, which they told me to use move it. Brick base put there by previous owners I gave them a copy of the High Hedge Act ? and they cut the hedge. Made them take down all their wall lights off our boundry wall at front. Normally, if they had asked I would have said yes but not anymore.