A dispute over potted plants, hanging baskets and paving slabs between a judge and her well-heeled neighbours has resulted in a bitter three-year legal battle costing £250,000.

The row erupted when Deputy District Judge Suki Waschkuhn, who uses her maiden name Johal in her professional life, started renovating the patio of her £1.5 million ground-floor flat, which is located in an exclusive complex in Wimbledon, south London, in January 2016.

Ms Johal was ordered to halt the work when the company that manages the complex, which is made up of her neighbours, and the managing agent, Frank Mulroe complained that she was in breach of her lease and had not obtained permission from them.

Lawyers acting on their behalf demanded the removal of hanging baskets she had put up, protesting that they were a health and safety risk and asked to inspect the new patio paving slabs, claiming that they were lighter and thinner than the originals.

A dispute over potted plants, hanging baskets and paving slabs between a judge and her well-heeled neighbours has resulted in a bitter three-year legal battle costing £250,000

The row erupted when Deputy District Judge Suki Waschkuhn, who uses her maiden name Johal in her professional life, started renovating the patio of her £1.5m ground-floor flat (pictured), located in an exclusive complex in Wimbledon, south London, in January 2016

Ms Johal was ordered to halt the work when the company that manages the complex complained that she was in breach of her lease and had not obtained permission from them

They also ordered all potted plants to be removed along with a metal bell and plate with her flat number on it at the entrance to the patio and for the gate to be repainted because it was not the same as 'the universal colour of the exterior of the building.' Concerns were also raised about the water pressure after a water feature was installed and an awning.

Determined to fight for her patio, which she describes as 'an oasis of calm' Ms Johal pursued the management company, which is made up of her fellow residents, in the civil courts.

During a hearing at Central London County Court in December 2018 she was cleared of any wrong doing and given the right to keep her £50,000 patio, which measures 42 feet by 22 feet. The case was listed for five days but lasted only two. Judge Alan Johns QC ordered the company to pay half of her costs as well as their own, with the total legal bill amounting to £250,000.

Ms Johal (pictured), known as 'The Iron Lady of the Bar' has issued fresh proceedings and is demanding around £500,000 in damages

Now, Ms Johal, who is known as 'The Iron Lady of the Bar' has issued fresh proceedings and is demanding around £500,000 in damages from the directors of the management company, claiming that the patio dispute caused her to suffer from depression, for which she received medication and counselling, led to a loss of income and also damaged her professional reputation.

Ms Johal told MailOnline: 'I'm not going to let the matter rest. I've got my patio but these people have made my life hell over trivial matters. I've got considerable financial resources and legal knowledge so they've chosen the wrong person to mess with.

'This whole incident has drained me and has had a terrible impact on my mental and physical health. For weeks I could not sleep as I fought to save my patio.

'The patio is my oasis, my escape after a stressful day because I do a very demanding job but these people tried to take it away from me.'

Ms Johal's damages claim also includes £100,000 she spent fighting another complaint raised by the management company to the Bar Standards Board (BSB), which regulates lawyers. They reported her to the watchdog after protesting that she bombarded them with a torrent of emails over the patio issue, more than 100 in five weeks, which they claimed amounted to harassment.

Following a hearing in December 2017, Ms Johal, who hired a QC to represent her, was cleared of any misconduct.

Ms Johal, 51, who is also a qualified barrister and well known within legal circles, is the president of the Association of Asian Women Lawyers. She was a guest of the Queen at the 2002 Golden Jubilee Service at St Paul's Cathedral. She lives in the luxury apartment with her husband Wolf, an investment banker and the couple also own a house in Switzerland and another in Italy.

Ms Johal said that her determination to stand her ground over the patio and continue the legal fight stems from her humble working class origins as the daughter of a foundry worker from Smethwick West Midlands, where she was born and raised and her background as a Sikh.

She added: 'I've had to work very hard to get to where I have in life. I've had to slog and fight all the way to get to the top of my profession. We Sikhs are a tough, determined people who don't give up easily.

'I fought and won the battle for my patio, now I'm going to fight for my name and get justice for what they did to me. This whole thing has been very costly and I don't see why I should pay for it.'

In his judgment on the patio issue Judge Johns said that Ms Johal's failure to allow an inspection of it had prompted 'something of a war' and that the whole matter could have been averted.

Lawyers acting on their behalf demanded the removal of hanging baskets she had put up, protesting that they were a health and safety risk and asked to inspect the new patio paving slabs, claiming that they were lighter and thinner than the originals

As it turned out, when an independent inspection was eventually carried out, it was found that the paving slabs Ms Johal (pictured) used were the same size and weight as the originals and there had been no need for them to have been inspected by an independent surveyor

But he accepted the reason why she did not allow this was because 'there would be a justified fear that the object of the inspection was to find more of which complaint could be made, however unreasonably.'

As it turned out, when an independent inspection was eventually carried out, it was found that the paving slabs Ms Johal used were the same size and weight as the originals.

The judge also dismissed suggestions that her hanging baskets posed a health and safety risk and said there was no justification for the demand that her potted plants be removed.

He also accepted that she had provided notification of all the work that was being carried out to the patio in advance of it taking place and had received consent for it, something that the management company claimed she had not.

Judge Johns added: 'It is not easy to how such minor works could prompt litigation which headed towards a five-day trial, but that is what happened.'

Ms Johal said: 'People might think that his is a lot of money being wasted on minor issues and they'd be right. But I tried to co-operate with the management company and agent throughout this process. They knew exactly what I had in mind for the patio but just wanted to be vindictive and persecute me.'

Edward Whitehorn, a neighbour and chairman of the residents management company has described the dispute as a 'dreadful waste of money'.

He told MailOnline: 'Nobody has benefited from this litigation, which has been a nightmare. If only Ms Johal had allowed the managing agent to inspect the work on her terrace.

'We still don't understand why we were ordered to pay half her legal costs. It's all a dreadful waste of money, and yet Ms Johal has already threatened more legal proceedings.'

Copies of the judgment have now been circulated to residents of all the 104 flats that make up the exclusive complex, who must fork out more than £2,000 each to pay the legal costs. Ironically, this also includes Ms Johal.

Svetlana Markova, a member of the resident's association added: 'Apart from being a complete waste of money, it has been a massive drain on the directors' [of the management company] time and on resources which could have been invested in improving and maintaining the building.

'The directors are unpaid volunteers who have had to find extra time to deal with this case which massively affected their personal lives.It has been a very stressful and unfortunate experience.'

Frank Mulroe, who is no longer the building's managing agent, declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.