A Wicklow couple are facing a six figure legal bill after losing a bitter row with their neighbours over a boundary hedge.

High Court President Nicholas Kearns said if the events of this case featured in the plot of John B Keane's play 'The Field', audiences might find them too implausible to be credible.

'In John B Keane's play there was a field at stake between the protagonists. In this case it is no more than a few feet of hedge,'' Mr Kearns said.

It followed his judgment today on a bitter ten year row about alleged damage to a portion of hedgerow near Clogga Beach outside Arklow.

James and Anne Madigan took legal action against their neighbours, Kathleen Maureen Reuter and her children, claiming their privacy had suffered.

But after an incredible seven days at hearing in the Circuit Court, and a further six day appeal in the High Court, the Madigan's have lost their case and have been ordered to pay all legal costs.

That is going to be a six figure sum of possibly several hundred thousand euro.