Bad blood between neighbours who used to be friends deteriorated into violence for a second time as they came to blows on the driveway,

Blackburn Magistrates' Court heard 74-year-old Harold Durant attacked his neighbour Ian Zirins as he was bringing his wheelie bin in on September 6.

He threw a punch which missed and Mr Zirins, a fellow pensioner, used his bin to try and keep some distance between him and his attacker.

CCTV footage showed Durant push the bin to one side and then repeatedly punch the other man to the head, neck and back.

Durant, 74, of Loughrigg Close, Burnley, pleaded guilty to assault. He was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Rachel Evans, prosecuting, said Durant was cleaning his car on his driveway at about 1pm when the victim walked down his drive to retrieve his wheelie bin.

“As he returned the defendant attacked him without provocation,” said Miss Evans.

“He tried to protect himself with the bin but the defendant pulled it away and then punched him several times.”

Miss Evans said Durant had three previous convictions and all of them related to his neighbour.

He had been convicted of assaulting him in 2019 and there had been two subsequent breaches of a restraining order imposed at the time of the assault conviction.

In a victim personal statement, Mr Zirins said Durant had waged a programme of harassment against him.

“I shouldn’t have to search my drive every day for nails and screws that appear behind my car, or clear up cigarette ends that appear on my property,” he said.

“He growls and snarls at me as I pass him and I had to wear a body-cam to persuade him not to assault me again.

“I am retired and simply want to live a quiet, normal existence,” he added.

Durant told the court he and Mr Zirins used to be friends but that ended when they fell out and he assaulted the other man in 2019.

He said on the day of the latest incident he thought he heard the aggrieved mumble something as he walked past.