Her rental property, which she shares with her carer Alf Shaw in Spofforth Place, Kelso, has been the target of vandals, who have placed soiled baby 

nappies in her mail box, poisoned her plants and trees, written expletives in her lawn with weed killer, blown up her letterbox and spray-painted the front of her house with obscene images.

Ms Sargent moved into the house just under two years ago, and had no problems at all until October 31 last year, when she said a family knocked on her door to “trick or treat”.

She said “no” and her life has been a “living hell” ever since.

“We’ve had eggs thrown at the house, they’ve poisoned the trees, cut other trees down,” she said.

“They’ve even thrown eggs at us.

“We’ve also had rocks thrown on our roof.

“We ring the police and they come, but as soon as the police leave they [the vandals] start up again,” she said.

“We’re regularly verbally abused, and it has just continued to escalate.

“They put the contents of a baby’s nappy in our letterbox, so we put a padlock on it.

“On Monday night they tried to blow it up.

“They put a dead tiger snake on our doorstep, [have] written words and graffiti all over our house, cut the cable to the television, it never ends.” 

As the property is a rental, Ms Sargent said she had spoken to Bathurst Real Estate, and said the agency, and Kevin Keogh in particular, had been very good.

“I can’t praise them enough,” she said.

Ms Sargent said she will ultimately be looking for a new rental, but needs a house with no steps and a walk-in shower.

She said all she wants to do is live in peace, but wakes up every night wondering if she will wake up again at all.

“We’re starting to wonder what they will do next,” she said.

“I can’t cope any more. We don’t deserve to be treated like this. Nobody does.”