04 August 2017
England Environmental (Northern) Ltd and another v Arthur Jones & Sons (Contractors) Ltd [2017] EWHC 1903 (Ch), [2017] All ER (D) 199 (Jul)
In a dispute concerning two neighbouring properties, the Chancery Division held that the claimants (respectively the owner and periodic tenant of one of the properties) were entitled to a right of way over a lane on the basis of the doctrine of lost modern grant. Under that doctrine, an easement could be acquired by 20 years continuous use ‘as of right’. The court, in awarding the claimants damages of £500, held that the requirement of the doctrine had been satisfied in circumstances where there had been more than 20 years of continuous use of the lane to gain access to the first claimant’s property.
