A doctor ripped down a trellis in “a fit of rage” in a bitter row with her neighbours over who owns a strip of land near their houses, a court heard.

Dr Veena Paes, who specialises in public health research, is embroiled in a court fight with three sets of neighbours in her leafy suburban street.

Her neighbours - Thomas and Florence Benton, Robert Gilder and Althea D’Lima, and Mohammed Shaffi - who own three corner plot properties alongside her £1 million home in Trevelyan Road, Tooting, South London, have “colluded to trespass” on the strip of land which separates all four properties, she claims.

With her finance boss husband, Melanius Paes, she claims there has been a “conspiracy” between her neighbours to take her land, removing a gate which gave her access to the 84ft x 20ft strip.

The couple say they carried out extensive historical research into house deeds and documents dating back to Victorian times which prove the giant strip, which gives them side access to their back garden, is theirs.

They are now facing off in court against their neighbours, who are seeking a ruling that they are the true owners or, alternatively, have gained adverse possession - or squatters’ rights - by use of the strip as part of their property over many years.