A couple deliberately overwatered plants and used dolls and other "props" as part of a bizarre campaign of harassment aimed at their neighbour, a court has heard.

       Sandra Durdin, 58, and Trevor Dempsey, 62, allegedly parked their cars on Joanne Shreeve’s drive and deliberately flooded an alleyway between their two properties in Chingford, East London.

       The couple are also accused of using various "props" aimed at upsetting their neighbour, including erecting a piece of felt covered in colourful paint.

       In another incident they are accused of putting barbed wire on a fence dividing their properties.

       Both pleaded not guilty to a charge of harassment when they appeared together in the dock at Thames Magistrates' Court in Bow.

       According to the charges, their actions were aimed at "causing distress" to Ms Shreeves.

       The alleged incidents are said to have started in June 2020, around the time that the first wave of lockdown measures were being relaxed, and continued until August 2021.

       It is not clear what sparked the alleged dispute.

       Ms Durdin, who is also accused of destroying a ￡1,350 CCTV camera belonging to Ms Shreeves in May 2021, pleaded not guilty to a charge of criminal damage.

       The couple were conditionally bailed to appear for a two-day trial at Stratford Magistrates' Court, in East London, from April 11.

       They have moved from the Chingford property and are now living in Ramsgate, Kent.

       Neither spoke when they left the court in East London.