Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Private nuisance definition

What does Private nuisance mean? In practice, private nuisance describes civil claims for substantial and unreasonable interferences with another’s use or enjoyment of land, or damage to land or rights over it (including easements). It is chiefly a case-law concept: a tort in England & Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland, and a delict in Scotland. Typical nuisances include noise, smells, fumes, dust, vibrations, flooding, and encroaching roots or branches. The court assesses locality, duration, intensity, sensitivity, utility, malice and foreseeability. It protects quiet enjoyment. Claimants are generally owners or lawful occupiers with a proprietary or possessory interest (licensees cannot sue in England & Wales and Northern Ireland;...

Easements: actionable interference as private nuisance—rights of way, light, support; defences, remedies and procedure (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

Wrongful interference with an easement as a private nuisance

This Practice Note addresses wrongful interference with an easement as a form of private nuisance and explains:

what amounts to actionable interference
alteration and deviation of rights of way
estoppel through acquiescence by a beneficiary
remedies and damages
procedural steps to bring and defend an easement infringement claim

Interference with an easement amounts to private nuisance. A claimant must first prove the easement exists for any action to succeed. For broader guidance on private nuisance, see Practice Note: Private nuisance—general principles.

In Gosling v Bradbury, the claimants sought a declaration confirming a legal easement entitling them to take water from a borehole on the defendants’ farm, together with an injunction preventing any further interference or obstruction of that supply. They also contended that there was an ancillary easement permitting electricity to pass from the farm to the borehole pump; the defendants had cut that power and, the claimants said, thereby unlawfully interfered with the easement. The defendants resisted, asserting they had not committed any legal interference with the right to obtain water by disconnecting the...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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