06 August 2010
Bocardo SA v Star Energy UK Onshore Ltd and another [2010] UKSC 35, [2010] All ER (D) 333 (Jul)
A freehold landowner’s possession of land extended at least as far below the earth as mineable strata. The defendant mining company had committed an actionable trespass by sinking three oil wells beneath that land without obtaining an underground way leave from the freeholder. The ordinary principles of assessing the valuation of the land under compulsory land purchase applied to the purchase of rights under the Mines (Working Facilities and Support) Act 1966.
