A long-running dispute between two allotment gardeners in North Yorkshire is to be aired on prime-time television.

Carlton Television's Neighbours From Hell II will focus on a row which culminated in one man slashing the other's courgettes.

Alan Boyes, 62, of Newbiggin, Malton, filmed Derek Fothergill attacking his vegetables with a large kitchen knife on the town's Outgang Lane allotments.

He set up a surveillance operation after hundreds of courgette plants were vandalised on two previous occasions.

In July, 1995, the video tape was used as evidence against Mr Fothergill, of Princess Road.

He was given a conditional discharge by Malton magistrates after admitting one offence of causing criminal damage to vegetables.

Mr Fothergill, who was also ordered to pay £28 in damages and £30 towards prosecution costs, claimed in court he had been driven to commit the act following 10 years of "persecution".

Magistrates were told that Mr Boyes had several allotment plots and had a part-time business selling vegetables to traders.

Initially, he believed slugs or other insects were responsible for damaging his plants. But then he noticed the mark of a knife blade in the soil.

In order to catch the culprit red-handed, Mr Boyes hid in a shed with a borrowed camcorder.

He took the video to police after filming Mr Fothergill slashing about 100 plants over a period of 20 minutes.

Carlton claims the dispute between the men is still rumbling on, but Mr Fothergill declined to comment on the forthcoming TV programme when the Evening Press called at his home.

Mr Boyes, who chairs the Outgang Lane Allotments Association, said he was not worried about the programme stirring up more bad feeling.

Neighbours From Hell II will be screened by ITV at 8.30pm on Thursday, March 19.

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