Although I did not know previously, I have now been informed that Piplings did ask for mediation to resolve the complaints of neighbours back in Feb 2011. This suggestion was refused by the neighbours. They did ask again in August 2011 but the offer was again rejected.

Whatever the issues were, there was (and still is) a better way to deal with this. I'm pleased to find out that Piplings did want to take a sensible and neighbourly approach to resolving the problem. It seems outrageous that rather than pursuing a dialogue to see if some of these issues could be resolved, the neighbours chose to enforce a 1930s covenant that could equally be applied to 50 other businesses on the hill.