Neighours of 22 years who have never “shared a cross word” have fallen out - over the installation of 16 solar panels.
Friends and neighbours Val Collington and Joan Fielder are at loggerheads over the latter's decision to install 16 solar panels on her bungalow roof last week.
Mrs Collington, of Upper Sherwood Road in Seaford, said the solar panels are less than 18 feet from her back door because of the way the bungalows slope down the hill in their road.
She added that this reflected blinding sunlight and heat into her garden.
The 62-year-old said she fears the panels will scupper any chances she had of selling her home and is set to build a £1,000 fence to try and cut out her view of them.
Mrs Fielder, 72, said she has tried to “counsel” her neighbour but she also had to think about the environment and her grandchildren.
Mrs Collington said: “I didn't know anything about it until Joan came to me about two days before and said they were going to be installed.
“Every time I think about those panels, I feel sick.
“We have lived next to each other for 22 years, I have known her nearly all my life and we've never had a cross word.
“The panels can be seen by me not them, and they are so ugly. I hate them.”
Mrs Collington said she has spoken to three estate agents who had all told her that the majority of would-be buyers would be discouraged from buying because of solar panels.
She added: “If they were high on a roof away from me they wouldn't bother me.
“I have been around Seaford and I can't see any panels that are as close as these are to me.
“When properties are so near and low down, there should be some sort of planning permission.
“All I want to do now is move but will anyone want to buy my home with that black roof.”
Mrs Fielder, 72, said: “I tried to counsel her but she got very upset and that's the end of that.
“I have spoken to a well renowned architect and he said I have done absolutely nothing with what I have done.
“People have said they are the nicest looking ones they have seen, as solar panels go.
“The Government and councils are all encouraging their use for saving the environment and I have my grandchildren to think of.
“I am not going to be the only one, wherever she lives she will have someone doing the same thing.”
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