Legality query

[Fred1664]

Apologies I posted this in the welcome section by mistake!
I have posted before about my neighbours and their private lane that I need to access to get to the rear of my rented property, this is however a new question as he has said he is not happy with some tarmac that has been layed that he is claiming is on his property ( a bit of it, a foot or so at most) a local developer had some excess tarmac and I asked them to use it to cover a step between the unadopted Road and this private lane.
my neighbour is claiming that it is not legal to have repaired his lane without permission, is he correct or can i just ignore him?

[Ripped-Off]

I would say that he is right. From your description, your property (the new tarmac) appears to be trespassing on his land. I suppose its like overhanging branches from one property to another, where the right exists to cut down the overhang but the title in the branches remains with the property where they came from.

Was the step a danger? Whilst he appears to retain the right to dig out the new tarmac and give it back to you, would that expose him to a claim under the Occupier's Liability Act if you or anyone else were to have an accident as a result of the step? Perhaps you could raise the question that the step (if it is on his land) is dangerous (presumably it could be if it is a trip hazard) and that you took it upon yourself to remove the danger.

[Fred1664]

I guess I can claim it is a danger, any step in a road/lane has potential for danger, the main reason for covering it was wear and tear on my cars driving over it, thanks for the insight, just wanted to no if his claim that it illegal is correct when next he approaches me.