British expat couple walled into their home

[DownSouth]

This has to be one of the wackiest things I've ever read … French villagers free retired British couple walled into their home.

A British couple's dream of a quiet retirement in the sun of southern France turned into a nightmare when their neighbours walled them into their home.
…
Villagers said the Dysons' next door neighbours - the Dunlops - had first blocked the Dysons' front door with a large van before deciding to make their confinement more permanent.
…
"Then the whole village united on Monday" to protest against what the Dunlops had done, said Mr Gach, 83, under the watchful eye of local gendarmes.
"Everyone came out, and they all shouted and whistled against these awful neighbours.
"We all waited for the bailiff to arrive to see what they had done ... After that we took down the wall, unbarred the door and freed the shutters."
…

While it's good to see the response of the locals, the fact that it was another expat couple responsible is most astonishing, that's more the kind of thing you can imagine a mob of angry French villagers doing than an elderly Scottish couple.

I know a few British expats here in Adelaide, and generally the worst I've ever seen any of them do is being generally obnoxious after getting sloshed while watching soccer on TV.

If an expat family here got that annoyed with their neighbours, I can't see a crowd of locals turning out to shout and whistle at them. We might turn out to have a laugh though – they'd probably only get a little way into building the wall before getting severely sunburned and distracted from the task by an opportunity to complain about the weather being too hot and the beer too cold.

 

[balne-wonderer]

This has to be one of the wackiest things I've ever read … French villagers free retired British couple walled into their home.

While it's good to see the response of the locals, the fact that it was another expat couple responsible is most astonishing, that's more the kind of thing you can imagine a mob of angry French villagers doing than an elderly Scottish couple.

I know a few British expats here in Adelaide, and generally the worst I've ever seen any of them do is being generally obnoxious after getting sloshed while watching soccer on TV.
If an expat family here got that annoyed with their neighbours, I can't see a crowd of locals turning out to shout and whistle at them. We might turn out to have a laugh though – they'd probably only get a little way into building the wall before getting severely sunburned and distracted from the task by an opportunity to complain about the weather being too hot and the beer too cold.

Here we go again!

 

[bb21]

While it's good to see the response of the locals, the fact that it was another expat couple responsible is most astonishing, that's more the kind of thing you can imagine a mob of angry French villagers doing than an elderly Scottish couple.

Really? :roll:

 

[trentside]

The number of expatriates quoted in the article seems quite surprising for a village...

The Dysons are very popular in the village, which has 258 inhabitants, about 40 of them British.

Some people are incredibly odd, especially when it comes to things like access rights (or lack of) - my family were once on the receiving end of a similar person who set out to make our lives (and our neighbours lives) very difficult by preventing access to a road we had used for years. Eventually we proved a right of access but she still continued to cause difficulties, along with her Australian partner (so not just British ex-pats) - up to and including threats of violence and vandalism to property and cars.

 

[starrymarkb]

Some villages in the South of France are now at the stage where retired British Ex-Pats outnumber the French locals.

 

[Trog]

Some villages in the South of France are now at the stage where retired British Ex-Pats outnumber the French locals.

Might be amusing to run a UKIP candidate for the local council. If only to see Nigel Farage's face if they won.