The Supreme Court has ruled that the residents have a right to privacy from visitors to the busy attraction.

Neo Bankside residents said “hundreds of thousands” of visitors to the world-famous London gallery were looking into their homes in a “relentless” invasion of privacy. They wanted the gallery to cordon off parts of the platform or put up screens.

The High Court and Court of Appeal sided with the gallery, but the residents took the case to the Supreme Court and yesterday it ruled 3-2 in their favour.

It said a viewing gallery was not a normal use of the gallery’s land and that it was a legal “nuisance” to the flat owners who couldn’t properly enjoy their property.

The properties have floor-to-ceiling windows and the Supreme Court’s Lord Leggatt likened it to “being on display in a zoo”.

Lord Leggatt also said the Court of Appeal had made legal errors when dismissing a bid for injunction and damages.

Nearly six years after the claim began, it will now go back to the High Court to find a solution for the flat owners.