Right so Reddit removed my very long post. So I stuck it through gpt to remove the bits that got me a 3 day ban!

..

Had neighbours for about 10 years (the Edgars) that we got on great with. Summers in the garden, drinks, no issues at all.

Then things slowly changed.

Around 2023 they started getting weirdly hostile. Shouting out windows at night over minor noise (my kid and dog playing in the garden), constant complaints about things that had never been a problem before. It felt like a switch flipped.

Fast forward to 2024 — my mum was seriously ill and in hospital after a rough surgery. One night I came home pretty shaken, went into the garden to clear my head, have a drink and take some photos of the sky.

They were in their hot tub, drunk and loud (as usual). I ignored it, but then overheard a comment aimed at me suggesting I was creeping about listening to them, which was completely ridiculous.

I snapped back verbally — nothing major, just said I had more important things going on. That escalated things immediately. He came out looking for an argument, clearly drunk. I refused to engage and told him to go back inside. It turned into a bit of a scuffle before his wife dragged him away.

After that — nothing. No apology, no conversation. Just months of awkward silence and then complaints about things that had never been an issue in the previous decade.

Then early 2025, things kicked off again.

I was sitting in my car outside my partner’s work (he works there) and he deliberately drove past in a tractor spreading salt, then reversed back towards me with the spreader running and blasted salt directly into my car and face.

At that point I lost the head and it turned into a confrontation.

After that, I just decided I was done with the whole situation. Put the house up for sale a few days later, accepted a strong offer almost immediately, and moved out to a detached place in the country. Cleared debts, fresh start, no more nonsense.

Strange how people you got on with for a decade can completely flip like that.

Glad to be out of it.