All is not well in Trebor Avenue, Kingston-upon-Thames. Next door to each other live Vinnie Tulley and Gilly Bell, neighbours from different parts of the social spectrum who clearly don't see eye to eye.

Vinnie is a successful, salt-of-the-earth plumber happily married to Stella. Although he's a manual worker by trade, he's a disaster zone when it comes to DIY, and his attempts to improve his home and garden only lead to further trouble with Gilly, who thinks he's dragging the area downmarket.

Gilly is recently widowed, makes jewellery for a living and shares her house with her unruly teenage daughter, Katie, who fancies Terry, Vinnie's lazy nephew and apprentice. In the second series, Gilly acquires a new man in her life, James Hammond.