Divorced City accountant, 50, who fell for married builder in Spain is ordered to pay him £117,500 for his work on her £600,000 cottage and £140,000 bungalow after pair's 'acrimonious' split

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Divorced mother-of-two Jacklin McGaan, 50, is pictured outside the High Court in London

A City accountant who fell in love with a married builder 15 years her senior while in Spain has lost a High Court fight with him over a £1million string of properties.

Divorced mother-of-two Jacklin McGaan, 50, of Clerkenwell, Central London, and Essex-based tradesman Brian South, 65, got together while on holiday in 2009.

He was married when they met, but they began a relationship. Miss McGaan and Mr South lived as 'unmarried domestic partners' for five years until 2014, when their relationship 'ended acrimoniously'.

During their time together Miss McGaan bought four houses across Essex, worth more than £1million in total - including a £600,000 three-bedroom detached cottage in Ongar and a £140,000 house near the coast in Walton-on-the-Naze.

But after their bitter breakup, the builder demanded that she split the properties with him. He claimed he had put money and work into the houses, which were meant to be an investment for them both, despite being in her sole name.

But Miss McGaan insisted they were all hers and that her tradesman ex was due nothing and instead owed her £50,000.

However in December last year, Judge Patrick Moloney ordered her to hand over equity in two of the properties to Mr South.

In his ruling, the judge explained that Miss McGaan was a 'divorced woman with two children' when she and Mr South 'met in Spain in 2009'.

During their time together Miss McGaan bought four houses across Essex, worth more than £1million in total - including a £600,000 three-bedroom detached cottage in Ongar (pictured)

'Mr South was appreciably older and was married at the time,' he added. They were 'unmarried domestic partners' for five years, before their love affair 'ended acrimoniously in 2014'.

Mr South took legal action the same year, insisting he was due a stake in each of the four houses. But Miss McGaan denied he was due anything and counter-claimed £50,000 she said she had lent him.

Judge Moloney however found that Mr South was due half the net proceeds from the sale of the £600,000 cottage and all the cash raised from the sale of the house in Walton-on-the-Naze.

He rejected Miss McGaan's counter-claim and ordered her to pay Mr South a balancing payment of just over £115,000.

She was also ordered to shell out £15,000 in interest because Mr South had been 'kept out' of his share in the properties since 2014.

This £140,000 house near the coast in Walton-on-the-Naze was also at the centre of the row

Now, after an appeal to the High Court, Mrs Justice Lang has cut her interest bill to just over £2,500, after ruling that interest was due only from the dates on which the properties were sold, not from when Mr South launched his case.

The judge said: 'Each of them had various businesses and properties which became intertwined with each other. In the course of the relationship, Miss McGaan bought four residential properties, including one from Mr South.'

She added that each 'has sued the other and each has counter-claimed', but Mr South had 'succeeded in establishing a beneficial interest' in two of the properties.

Cutting the accountant's interest bill, she concluded: 'The judge erred in concluding that Mr South was entitled to interest from the date he issued his claim. He only became entitled to a sum of money on which interest could accrue upon the sale of the properties.'

Mr South did not attend the hearing but was legally represented. Miss McGaan was in court to hear her barrister, Winston Jacob, mount the successful appeal.