A PENSIONER says she has been living a life of fear inside her own home for the past nine years because of a nightmare neighbour.

The Tetbury woman has rigged up a state-of-the-art camera system, blacked out her windows and erected heavy blinds on her terraced house to try and get some privacy.

The man next door has made her life “living hell” from the moment he moved in nine years ago, she said - trying to catch glimpses of her in the shower, spying through gaps in the fence and stopping her from sleeping night after night with loud banging and TV turned up "full bore".

The retiree, who suffers from heart problems, believes she is the target of a malicious hate crime from the nuisance neighbour, and wants to set up a network in the Cotswolds for others who are affected.

Police have visited both of the neighbours multiple times, but this has not deterred him, she said.

The two have only spoken once over the nine years, when she went around to confront him, but she said this only made things worse.

“He decided to make my life a misery. But he denied everything, that makes him a bully and a coward," said the woman, who has not been named for legal reasons.

“I’m not an angry person - I’m very chilled out - but I’m being targeted. This is a hate crime.”

She even believes he pushed out the knots of wood in the panelled fence between them in order to spy on her.

“When you can’t sleep night after night because of someone you start to struggle, eventually you forget your own name,” she said through tears.

“I can’t potter in the garden, I can’t go out there and have a cup of tea because he’s there. I get that creepy feeling.”

She added that she "just wanted a normal life".

A police spokesman said: “We have spoken to the woman and her neighbour about her complaints and worked with partner agencies in relation to the case.

“Measures have been put in place to try to capture evidence of any offences but as yet there is no evidence that crimes have taken place.”

A spokesman for Cotswold District Council, said: “This is an ongoing issue and it’s therefore inappropriate for the council to comment.”

The pensioner wants to “reach out to other women who are suffering the same thing”.

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