Ransom strip

In 1999, a 10-year dispute over a ransom strip in Riddlesden, West Yorkshire, resulted in a £1.6 million payment to a group of homeowners, who agreed to sell a 16-foot (4.9 m) tract of their properties to widen a road leading to a new development of 350 executive homes.

[4] The Law of Property Act 1925 makes it a criminal offence to drive across common land without permission.

[6] The 1925 law was cited in the case of businessman Michael Farrow, who in 1986 purchased the title Lord of the Manor of Newtown at auction for £4,200 from the Earl of Carnarvon.

He was initially successful, although the courts cited the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to set at 2% of the value of their homes as the maximum amount that owners of ransom strips could charge homeowners.

The House of Lords ultimately overturned Farrow's victory on 1 April 2004, deciding that the residents had satisfied the requirement of using the property continuously for 20 years.