A NEIGHBOUR of a woman accused of turning a remote community into a "hamlet of horrors" broke down as he told a judge what his family had endured.

Nigel Pratt had been calmly describing some of the problems he said he had experienced living next door to retired businesswoman Jeanne Wilding in the tiny hamlet of Bottomley, near Todmorden, when he suddenly broke down in tears.

Mr Pratt said: "How can you forgive people who attack your wife, damage your property and destroy your life? How can you do that?"

He could not continue and the court was cleared for 10 minutes.

Mr Pratt then resumed giving his evidence at Calderdale Magistrates' Court in Halifax, where Calderdale Council is applying for an anti-social behaviour order against Wilding.

Mr Pratt, who lives next door with his wife Penny and their children, said the problems had had a huge effect on his 11-year-old son, Edward.

He told the judge: "He's frightened of my wife going out in the yard when Miss Wilding is there.

"He screams and shouts at her not to go outside."

Businessman Matthew Stead told the court he had similar problems with Wilding when he lived next door to her in the Wiltshire village of Box in the late 1990s.

Mr Stead said he got in contact with Mr Pratt after he saw media coverage of Wilding's court appearances, telling the court with regards to the problems the Pratts faced: "You could basically take away their names and addresses and their details and you've got exactly the same thing going on."

Deputy District Judge Sandra Keen will decide whether to grant a full anti-social behaviour order after hearing evidence regarding 259 incidents summarised by 27 acts that allegedly took place between July 2004 and November last year.

The case continues.