Plaintiff, Mr Kelsen had a lease of a tobacco dealer’s shop in London. The Imperial Tobacco Co had an advertising board that projected into the air and above the leased property.
Mr Kelsen initially had no complaints, but subsequently demanded that the board be removed. The Company refused, arguing that the interference by the signage did not amount to a substantial interference with Mr Kelsen’s enjoyment of the land.
An action by Kelsen for injunction succeeded. The lease he had obtained gave him not just rights over the land, i.e shop only, but also the of the air above it. Hence the Company could not encroach that space except with prior consent from Mr Kelsen.
Kelsen v Imperial Tobacco Co. [1957] 2 QB 334
