When Mr. and Mrs. David Barber moved into their Sharon Lane home in 1962, they had a sweeping view of Hamilton Harbour and the far-off Paget shoreline.

Now all the couple sees when it looks out its second-floor bedroom window is the concrete and glass face of the ACE insurance building's new two-storey add-on.

"I was watching them vacuum the other night,'' Mr. Barber, 82, said of the building's cleaning staff.

Added his wife Mary: "It's a bit of blow at this late stage.'' Although their two-and-a-half-year battle against the extension came to a conclusion of sorts earlier this month, the Barbers said yesterday that their Pyrrhic Supreme Court victory over ACE has so far provided no gains.

On November 3, Puisne Judge the Hon. Mr. Justice Meerabux proclaimed the development illegal when he ruled that Environment Minister the Hon. Gerald Simons had "misapplied the law'' in overturning the DAB's original decision to reject the extension.

The Barbers' attorney, Mr. Alan Dunch, has since petitioned the Department to have the building's owner, Scarborough Property Holdings, tear the extension down.

Scarborough is owned jointly by ACE and BF&M Ltd.

"These poor people have had to put up with so much,'' said Mr. Dunch.

"The courts have upheld them all the way through and now they have to suffer through this?'' In addition to their impaired views and lack of privacy, the Barbers have also had to endure a loud and constant humming from the new addition's air conditioning system.

"The air conditioning goes on early in the morning and I don't know when it goes off at night,'' Mrs. Barber said. "We have to keep all the doors closed.'' Another annoyance the elderly couple pointed out was the powerful night-time lighting that they said was streaming into their bedroom until they decided to put up plexiglass plates and the building's maintenance staff started drawing the extention's blinds.

"The lights shone right into the bedroom,'' said Mr. Barber. "The privacy's all gone. We'd have to get a 20-foot hedge to get it back.'' Mr. and Mrs. Barber will not have to go that far, however, if their lawyer has his way. Mr. Dunch said yesterday that he is putting "daily'' pressure on the Ministry to have the situation resolved.

"There is no limit ascribed to getting (Mr. Simons) to respond,'' he said.

"But we can compel him to respond. I am applying as much pressure as I can.'' For the Barbers, the "sleepless nights'' and "aggravation'' that have characterised their battle against ACE will have all been worth it if they can eventually restore their privacy and peace of mind.

While the courts have so far backed them up, however, Mr. Barber is not so sure that that will happen.

"I am up against three very powerful companies,'' he said. "I just hope that Government will in no way change any of the laws to accommodate them.'' Added Mr. Dunch: "At the end of the day this case is about one question: `Do the legitimate rights of ordinary citizens count for less in this community than the illegitimate rights of big business?'' NO VIEW -- Mr. and Mrs. David Barber of Pembroke eye the "illegal'' ACE Building extension that has been built directly in front of their Sharon Lane home.