Sinking feeling lifted as narrowboat moved
Homeowners occasionally have to put up with a nightmare neighbour, but this man has been dealing with a troublesome boat for almost three years.
Steve McDonald sold his narrowboat to a man in April 2016, and allowed him to refurbish the boat on his land in Cannock before transporting it to a canal.
But after the man did a disappearing act - for the second time - Mr McDonald lost the sale of the land it was on and has had to take matters into his own hands by transporting it to a secret location from his home in Pear Tree Close, Huntington.
The 62-year-old retired builder has now forked out £680 for a crane to lift the boat onto a truck to be taken to another location, and has said told the boat's buyer will have to pay the fees before being told where the vessel is.
"At the time in 2016 I gave him three weeks to do the work needed and put it back on the canal," Mr McDonald said.
"He then disappeared and I went to the police and social media and to the papers, and an article appeared in the Express & Star in 2017 which flushed him out of the woodwork.
"He had various excuses, he'd been away, he was poorly, his partner had a baby, but I tried to call him hundreds of times.
"I allowed him to carry on doing work but kept insisting he moved the boat as soon as possible, he did a bit but kept disappearing.
"In the end I said it needed to go before Christmas, he said it would be gone well before then and then disappeared.
"I was going to sell the land the boat was on to a builder but he pulled out because he didn't want the hassle of the boat.
"Everybody says how weird it is that he keeps disappearing. I'm glad it's gone now, it's caused me a lot of stress."
