My kitchen has a four burner electric stove which costs a fortune to run, I cook dinner every night and very rarely go out so it's a large chunk of my electricity bill.

I live in a nice area and I'm lucky enough to have the back fence of my house facing onto a public park.

Within a few meters of my fence there is one of those free public barbecues, the electric kind that has a push button and turns off on its own after a while.

Since I moved here almost 2 years ago, I have used my own stove probably once or twice when it's been incredibly cold outside.

I have a little cart I fill with ingredients and wheel over to the public barbecue most nights. I also use it as a hotplate to boil water for dishwashing (and occasionally for a bath - all water from the nearby public tap of course). I estimate I am saving over $300 a year by doing this (electricity alone).

Here's where things get a little interesting. My next door neighbours whom I have barely spoken to since I moved in have started to pay a lot of attention to my use of the barbecue. It started when they had some friends over and wanted to use it for some sausages after I had already started a risotto. They were quite rude about it and it escalated to an all out screaming match. Thankfully they backed down before things got physical and ever since I have kept my phone on record when they come near.

Today I received a letter from my landlord explaining that I may be in breach of my lease and detailing a number of complaints he has received from both my neighbours and the council. The council is demanding that I stop using the 'public' barbecue.

The neighbours also claim I have been stealing their electricity and I am being threatened with eviction because of it. Once or twice I have plugged an extension cord into an outlet that is near their pool equipment but I only did so to power a lamp and a blender and I didn't even have to go over their fence to reach it.

I'm just wondering if anybody has any advice here - I don't think it's fair for the council to place 'public' barbecues and then try and place restrictions on who can use them. I have arranged to meet with my landlord next week to discuss my neighbours - apparently they are friends with him and are very upset so I need to explain that they started this whole thing by expecting me to cut my turn on the barbecue short for them. What points should I bring up and what laws or council rules can I quote?

Thank you in advanced