We’ve had back-to-back death threats sent down our driveway – we’ve spent £100,000 fighting neighbors

A COUPLE say they were sent a death threat while queued with neighbors across their driveway – which has cost them £100,000.

Rachel Gilbert Cornish and her husband James, 46, were shocked after receiving a creepy picture of a bear with a hole in its head.

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The back of the card, which was delivered by Royal Mail, had splatters of blood drawn in red ink.

The anonymous message was sent amid a long-running border dispute between the couple and their neighbors in a leafy cul-de-sac in York.

There is no indication that the couple’s neighbors were responsible.

But the card left the couple fearing for their safety and their two children.

Graphic designer Rachel, 43, said: “We reported it to the police. We don’t know where it came from.

“Whoever sent it seemed to know that we called our house The Sleeping Bear.

“The police came by but said they could not act until we had received three threats.

“This surprised us because it means they have two more tries before the police intervene.

“It shook us because we’re so introverted. We keep to ourselves.

“We have no enemies.”

The family was embroiled in a long-running legal battle over a narrow strip of asphalt in front of their five-bed family home.

When the couple bought their £735,000 home in 2014, they believed the tiny spur of the road was their private driveway.

Deeds for the house appear to show that the strip leading from the cul-de-sac to a neighbor’s storage shed is on their land.

The couple began to get the ball rolling to enclose their front yard with two meter high gates, only for the council to claim the spur it was made public in 1967.

It later emerged that the entire street had in fact never been adopted by York City Council.

Local residents were then asked in 2021 if they wanted the council to take over the road – including the tiny spur.

Eight out of nine households on Government House Road voted in favour.

The disputed status of the highway has since led to court cases, including a lawsuit with the couple’s neighbors and a failed judicial review.

The couple believe they spent up to £100,000 trying to claim the ride for themselves.

Rachel said: “The whole thing is stunning. It’s literally a road to nowhere outside of our home.

“Anybody looking at it would say it’s obviously a driveway.

“We bought the house because it is tucked away and private. Luckily we didn’t live here for four years that there was a problem.

“It wasn’t until we applied for construction work that we realized we had inherited a problem we didn’t know we had.”

A planning application to enclose the garden was rejected by city councilors this month.

A separate appeal will also be considered by the High Court this week.

The couple claimed in legal documents that the barrier at the end of the cul-de-sac was unlawfully built.

But neighbor Adam Kraemer-Dent told the city planners: “I think the real reason for this application with the erection of the gates is to deny us access to the garage at the end of the street.”

“The entirety of Government House Road is a public road – the proposed change of use and the erection of gates would mean I would not be able to use this section of the road to fully access my property.”

The couple allege that Mr. Kraemer-Dent was able to access the unit from a different entrance in his own garden.

Rachel added: “The impact on us of not being able to fence off our yard is that we don’t have privacy.

“We would never have bought this house if we had known about this weird driveway issue.”

York Council ruled against closing the road.

Cllr Jonny Crawshaw: “I see that in a way this has become a publicly adopted highway by default,” he said.

“I don’t think there would be a debate as to whether we should try to remove the assumed highway status if it weren’t for the driveway to the garage.

“But I don’t think I can support closing it.”

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