My hedge is destroyed

It might be worth having a word with the owner of the property if you know who that is.
In the meantime I hope you can rescue the hedge and keep out of this unpleasant character’s way.

Luckygirl

I am assuming he cut it back rather than cut it down completely. Hopefully it will grow speedily in the next few weeks. It was a bit high-handed to do it without talking to you first.

I once came home to find that a near neighbour had completely revamped our large rockery that was on the bank dropping down towards the lane. Plants removed and moved, rocks repositioned. Her cottage was up the hill and she looked down over the bank: she said she had got fed up with looking at it as it was!!!

Luckygirl that is appalling ! My response would have been unprintable!

It would have served her right if you had brought in landscape gardeners to put it all back and sent her the bill.

Well I would not rush to report him to anyone but would have the hedge trimmed really well so it did does not go over the pavement at all. Then see what other neighbours he upsets.
H

Don’t feel bullied Cava, you don’t need to justify your actions. Just stick to the legal implications of what happened and ensure that those who are employed to see that laws are not broken are informed. You and your neighbours will know how you maintain your property and no one complained to you and you were not there when your property was ‘damaged’.

What is concerning is the action, quite unreasonably and without your knowledge, presence or permission, that another neighbour’s new and aggressive tenant undertook. He may well be gone in a couple of weeks, but maybe not. It will cost you nothing to report this but you will feel like a victim if you do nothing. You don’t need to waste a moment on thinking of taking any other action and if you start proceedings to attempt to make any claim against him, even if you are eventually successful, no money will be forthcoming. He’ll certainly have none ... or be long gone from his rental. Just leave your complaint lodged with the Police and save their details/ reference number or whatever they give you.

Then, don’t give it another thought.

Merlot's post is good.

Having been irritated by overhanging hedges, including long loops of bramble that could whack you in the face if you didn't watch out, for the six years I walked DD3 along the only road to her primary school, I do get where anyone's coming from who takes direct action.

I'm not suggesting cava's annoyance isn't justified. The bloke should have knocked on the door and spoken about the hedge if it was a problem for his children. But I do get where he was coming from.

The other problem we had was cars and vans parked on the pavement with only a squeeze past space available for pedestrians who didn't want to walk on the road. I think pedestrians come last in most people's "traffic" thinking. That does need to change, including gardens not having hedges that overhang pavements. Pavements are for pedestrians.

Loopyloo and that is precisely why bullies always win !

Perhaps Hedge Bloke had had problems before and was at the end of his tether. His behaviour was very unneighbourly even so.

He is only renting the property - totally out of line.

No bullies do not always win. But sometimes you need to play a long game and not immediately increase the tension.

Cava, I would make a note of the date/time etc., and take a photo of the hedge in its current state.

Have a word with your neighbours so that they're aware of what's happened from your point of view. If he is renting and hasn't been there long he may have been 'persuaded to leave' by his last landlord.

Anti-social behaviour is hard to tolerate and difficult to deal with. I would watch and wait. He may upset others and then you will have their support.

Good Luck!

I honestly don’t think the police would be interested in a hedge cutting dispute between neighbours but he was clearly in the wrong damaging your property.

Is the hedge salvageable? Could your husband trim it so that it’s straight and tidy?

As others have said we all have a duty to ensure that our hedges don’t overhang the pavement to such an extent that some people have to step into the road, but it wasn’t his job to do it!

I am not sure what “only renting”! has to do with it FindingNemo15! renters are just as entitled to walk along pavements unimpeded as home owners!
The issue here surely is that he should have spoken to the OP and explained his concern before damaging her hedge! That was unacceptable, whatever his home tenure might be!
I agree that this is criminal damage but very unlikely that the police would take action! They are much more likely to say it’s a neighbour dispute and therefore a civil issue, due to being overstretched, this is their common response to any such issue.
I would consider very carefully any response to this; there is what the law says, and there is the implications of enforcing your rights, which are likely to be two separate things!
You could consider civil action in the small claims court for the cost of putting things right, but of course there is no guarantee that you would recoup your money and that would pertain whether or not he rented! You could speak to his letting agents or landlord asking them to have a word for future conduct ( although this wouldn’t put things right) or you could leave it as it is. Given that he seems to have a temper!
Sadly neighbour disputes can quickly escalate and make life a misery for all concerned, so even though you are in the right I would weigh things up carefully before taking matters any further

If a hedge is obstructing the footway, it should be reported to the Council, either by ringing them up or getting in touch with your local councillor. It could be that the neighbour who vandalised the hedge in question had tried that route and found the response less than effective and so took the matter into his own hands out of frustration.

Very rude of them to do that when you were out. We too have new neighbours who think it’s ok do do what they want where they want when it’s not their property.

That was out of order but be careful how you handle him ! If he has anger or mental issues ( because those weren't the actions of a kind person) it could cause future problems. I would try and sort it in a friendly way to start with even though you must be fuming. Good luck x

When you say that your bushes had been cut, do you mean that they were actually cut down completely, or just trimmed back? If they were destroyed, as your title states, that is surely classed as vandalism especially if he had to trespass on your property in order to do it.
If he merely trimmed back the part hanging over the pavement, he had no legal right to do it: but I think we can all appreciate how annoying it is to have to negotiate overhanging foliage.
In future you should keep them trimmed yourself, don't wait until people start complaining about it.

It's likely as not that whatever issues he's got/had, he brought them with him when he moved there 3 weeks ago.
No excuse for him to go around cutting other people's hedges though.

Hi Cava. If you look on the RSPB website it will tell you that hedges shouldn’t be cut between the end of February and the end of July because some birds are still nesting.
Regardless of the hedge overhanging, no one has the right to take it upon themselves to cut your hedge! I would certainly seek advice on the matter, especially regarding the mans behaviour towards you. That’s just not on.

I often take secateurs with me on my morning walks, involving some alleyways. However, I only cut the odd single hanging bramble or twig that hangs low in the wet weather. I would not dream of cutting back a whole hedge, much as I am tempted sometimes!

42:23
Hi Cava. If you look on the RSPB website it will tell you that hedges shouldn’t be cut between the end of February and the end of July because some birds are still nesting

That was my point too! .

I quite understand why you are cross about this, but if this neighbour is as unreasonable as you say, I wouldn’t confront him - he sounds very unpleasant. As previous GNs have suggested, log a complaint online with the Police.
Have any other neighbours had problems with him?
.

The man shouldn't have taken it upon himself to cut your hedge, but i have come across this myself, overhanging hedges which stop you walking on the pavement so you have to walk in the road
When i used to walk my dog, someone had a long bramble overhanging the pavement, i was fed up of being hit in the face by it, and it was especially dangerous on a dark night
I took my secateurs with me one day and cut the blinking thing off
It was only one bramble but so frustrating to have to try to avoid it all the time
He could have come and asked you though first
I wouldn't take any action, as you might be told it was your resposibilty to make sure the footpath was clear
Maybe he did ring the council but they have been closed over lockdown so probably couldn't do anything
Living in a rented house has nothing to do with it

Several posters have commented that the Police are a bit too busy to prioritise a hedge dispute.
I still believe its better to leave this. The man did call to confess he'd cut the hedge back and gave a reason why. I'd be upset as well if this happened to me,I'd also feel bad that my leaving the hedge overhanging the pavements may have caused other neighbours to step out into the road to get past.

Best left now. This man doesn't sound like a reasonable individual if his response to the OP pointing out it would have been better form to raise this with them, was to become aggressive, defensive and walk off. Best avoided unless necessary

I would make notes of his behaviour and just 'keep an eye on him'. Maybe ask his neighbour if it was a one off or if he/she is having a problem with him?

Do you have any information on his landlords or the agents they use? You could write a stiff letter objecting to his attitude as a tenant and neighbour.