As Storm Franklin clean up begins - who owns neighbouring fence if panels damaged?

Millions of pounds of damage has been caused to properties including fallen fences

The great clear-up is beginning after Storms Eunice and Franklin caused damage to houses across the UK, and Cheshire.

Fences and boundary walls were particularly badly impacted by the strong gusts - as the winds can lead to fence panels or posts being floored.

And as fences lie between neighbouring properties, it can be difficult to tell who is responsible for the fence and who should put the damage right, reports WalesOnline.

Read more of the top stories from across Cheshire here.

One of the common myths is that, looking from your house, the fence on the right belongs to you.

Experts at Jackson's Fencing say this is not the case, adding: "Contrary to common belief, there is not a designated side of the fence to each property.

"The only way to know for certain who owns what side, is to refer to the Title Plan or Land Registry.

"In this, the T mark is used to indicate who the boundary belongs to and therefore who is responsible for its upkeep.

"There is currently no obligation for boundary ownership to be clarified in title deeds across England and Wales, with rules differing in Scotland and Ireland. Therefore, in some cases not all boundaries will have been specified."

You will need to either conduct further research into the Registry of Deeds or reach a boundary agreement with your neighbours, according to Jackson's Fencing.

And they add: "You can guess who owns a fence by seeing where the rails are, with the fence typically facing away from their property so that their neighbour gets the ‘good’ side of the fence.

"This is the most secure way of facing fencing so there are no rails for anyone to use to climb into your garden. This is then repeated with the neighbour on the other side to ensure that each home has both a ‘good’ and ‘bad’ fence side."

To further complicate matters fences and walls can be co-owned, with both neighbour having responsibility for maintenance.

According to AXA Insurance, a ‘T’ mark on one side of the boundary indicates that the person on that side is responsible for the fence.

If a ‘T’ is marked on both sides, responsibility is shared between both neighbours. This is known as a party boundary.

One of the main issues with title plans is sometimes there is no ‘T’ mark at all.

When this happens, you will need to find out whether there is assumed responsibility for the boundary.

Assuming responsibility occurs when either you or your neighbour take charge of placing and maintaining the fence on your own accord.

However, if both parties have been maintaining the fence, responsibility should continue to be shared.