My hedge is destroyed

I would guess that he grabbed his chance to do it while you were out. Still no reason for him to have not knocked on your door and just say " I think that your hedge/ shrubs are overhanging onto the path,would it be okay if I trimmed them back ?
Obviously his kids can only walk in a straight line and he has previously only lived in a house in the back of beyond where he could do what he liked!
Understand how you feel - I got home from work one day to find that members of my family had come round (admittedly at my dad's request) and cut back every single shrub and even a small tree, to the same height! As well as burning my garden bench on the bonfire!

Would have been

I think the words "was doing me a favour" would have enough to make me shriek it back at him however!

Or do you have a 'neighborhood watch association or owners society or some such, who can maybe word a printed 'anonymous' leaflet of some kind, about rules& regs of what other owners/renters/residents are not allowed to do to others properties, just signed as 'the group' of whatever they represent? Might be more formal& not allow him to do it, or anything else, again? Hes probably used to an estate where no one owns their own previously so thought he could do so

Cava
Criminal damage ??? Unless you gave permission for your hedge to be cut back it is not up to persons to take the law into their own hands and decide for them selves what they see as an obstruction.Did you take photographs of your damaged hedge? Hopefully you did if not do so now and take them to your local Citizens Advice .They will advise what you need to do.

Instead of involving police (who knows what that would make him do next?) Look out for his landlord maybe, when he calls on him? Get him to have a word? To explain hes not allowed to do that kind of thing? Or if you know the owner already, give him a ring & tell him.

I assure you Goldenage that you would not be apologising to this chap. I too have issues with bushes when walking grandchildren in the buggy..but I assure you my hedge was not overhanging.. just a little bit out and the pavement would comfortably fit two adults. This chap does not have a buggy he lived up the road and came armed with his tools the moment we went our rather than just coming to have a chat. He was rude and aggressive and it was his way or the highway and I don’t think we should have to endure that sort of behaviour.

I think he was wrong by just doing without speaking to you first. Sometimes these things do happen with plants, shrubs and trees growing amok in the warmer months and we don't always notice it. If it is growing over the pavement it can be dangerous however if you live in a cul-de-sac it is different as cars won't be speeding past his kids. Having read your post I must admit I checked out trees etc weren't overhanging and I think a bit of trimming back will be carried out in next could of weeks ??

Complain politely to his landlord so they have a record too

Huge sympathy with the OP arriving back to find the job already done. He should have asked. Having said that, I have asked the owner of this hedge to cut it back on several occasions since lockdown and it’s just got worse. Out for a walk is bad-with social distancing we either waited or walked in the road but now it has grown so much since March that with a wheel chair or a pram-you have to go into the road even if there’s no one else there.

GoldenAge Whilst I agree with your sentiments about hedges that impede wheelchairs, pedestrians etc., Cava has said that the hedge was not overgrown enough to impede foot traffic.

This is criminal damage and I would be concerned that his behaviour might escalate if he is permitted to just continue doing as he pleases - how long before he decides a tree is blocking some of his light and has to be cut down, or he doesn't like things in people's gardens etc. Normal people would talk to a neighbour first, open a discussion, ask if work could be done and give their reasons for the request. It is possible that having recently moved in he genuinely thought he was doing a favour for one of his new neighbours. But, he has gone about it in totally the wrong way and personally I'd be worried as well as furious. Oh, and it is unreasonable of anyone thinking it's OK to walk 5 abreast on the path (bloke and his 4 sons you mentioned) - then nobody else, especially people with mobility scooters or pushing buggies, would be able to get past them.

Neighbours are permitted to trim back branches etc that overhang their properties but you say this guy lives up the road a bit so I presume he is not your next-door neighbour and this would not then be applicable. My better half is a tree surgeon and often has to deal with neighbours in dispute about trees and hedges. Mostly even when neighbours want to trim overhanging tree branches or hedges they still approach the neighbour the offending plant life belongs to, either asking them to deal with it or by requesting permission to trim their side, sometimes offering to pay or go halves etc. To the best of my knowledge nobody has a right to just walk down their road with a hedge trimmer and cut their neighbours bushes.

One of our new (problem) neighbours recently butchered a lovely tree - I'm livid, especially as the tree belongs to the nicest neighbour we have (we've lived next door for nearly 30 years and consider her as good as family). Her tree does overhang our garden a bit but she takes good care of it and we don't mind - we know we'd only have to ask or offer to trim it if it ever became a problem (it's a nice tree and the only one of its kind in our gardens). The neighbour mistakenly thought that part of the garden belonged to the flat they rent and wanted their kid to play there (it is OUR garden area and we don't want any more nuisance than they already make right outside our window)

If I were you I'd prefer not to get off on a bad heading with new neighbours but 'd be very concerned and would probably report the incident in case this unreasonable behaviour establishes a pattern. If the trimmed hedge is not a 'neat job' and has damaged it, made it look really bad, disturbed nests etc he obviously doesn't care about the impact on you, your garden, the wildlife etc. I've just re-read your post as I was going to suggest talking to him but you mention an exchange you had with him where he was 'defensive and aggressive' - worrying traits and a bad response. Please be careful as it doesn't sound like he is prepared to listen to reason, obviously has an entitles attitude to do as he pleases, act impulsively and not care about the consequences.

The hedge as I have said previously allowed two adults to walk past comfortably. It was slightly overhung and due to be trimmed. If he’d come and spoken to us he would have had this info. The issue here is his actions and behaviour .. he obviously waited till we went out as our ring doorbell showed him turning up ten minutes later to do the deed. He was rude to us... one of us many comment was that we obviously dont have children as we don’t care about their welfare. (We have two and four grandchildren).
I do wonder where all this came from as we didn’t even know if his existence before yesterday ... very odd.

I know the council can require you to trim a hedge or shrubs that overhang a footpath as I once got a letter requiring me to do so from our local council. Obviously I complied as best I could without damaging said shrubs and I now trim back futher than I used to when I do my annual pruning. However, I don't think a neighbour has the right to cut your plants unless they overhang their property, which I presume was not the case. I'd be furious, however I'd be reluctant to have an on-going feud with a neighbour. Maybe contact the police online to ask advice.

Hello Cava - The issue is crystal clear - you don't own the pavement. The fact that you question this newcomer's right "to change the landscape" shows that you feel you have a right to extend into that landscape from your garden and have no appreciation of your own impact on the public walkway. Bushes that overhang on to the pavement may look pretty and enhance the image of a person's house to the onlooker but they are an intrusion onto the pavement. As someone who has much experience of pushing both a wheelchair on some occasions, and a child's buggy on the other I am amazed at the lack of appreciation by some over-grown-garden owners that the pavement is for the use of the general public and is not an extension to their property. The onus is on you to plant responsibly and ensure that when your bush or tree flourishes it remains in your garden.

As to the point about knocking on your door and asking you to make the pavement accessible, it's not always easy to complain - if you are pushing a wheel/push chair you can't just leave it on the pavement while you walk up the pathway and knock on the door, if you are walking with children to school you can't break your journey, and likewise why should you have to make a separate trip back to the offending bush to be polite??

People have a right to walk as close to the wall at the end of private property as they need to and if children are constantly having to walk wide then it's no wonder that this chap has taken the matter into his own hands.

I don't think you will find any sympathy with your local council or the police, we are in the middle of a pandemic when all resources are stretched. This neighbour might be 'new' and 'renting' which both sound like value judgements to me but he has as much right as anyone to protect his children, so actually if I had been so negligent as to force someone to have to walk into a road I would be apologising to him, for my lack of appreciation, saying at the same time that you will ensure there's no overhang in future.

Suziwooze that must have been awful.

Suziewoozie,in response to your post at 10.56, yes ours did have such a clause. We did try not to have to use it though, but after they told the next door neighbour that we had given them permission to park in a position that blocked his passage out of the cul de sac In his car we had had enough.

I also think you should put down a marker over this man's behaviour, whether its the police form or local council or both just in case he does something else to you or your neighbour's property. If you know the landlord, maybe a past neighbour, you could mention it as it makes you wonder what he is doing in the house.

That's the start he'll think that he can do anything he wishes. Rude, ignorant, you get them everywhere

I am a landlord of properties and licenced by local council who have strict rules regarding anti social behaviour. I would certainly log this with them and they will notify landlord with a warning future action will be taken. If he does this again there will be a record and landlord will be asked to terminate tenancy each council differs as to how many complaints are acceptable before termination of !andlord licence. This way you are letting landlord know and avoiding confrontation.

Oh dear, looking at this it is easily seen that hedges can get people all hot and bothered.

By now Cava, I hope you have taken photos and reported this online to the police.

Tomorrow, ring your local council and ask what the by-laws are regarding hedges and whether anyone who likes can cut back someone else's hedge.

I bet they can't. I am fairly certain that the procedure is that this man should have mentioned the matter to you, then reported it to the council if you didn't trim the hedge.

I think I would leave it at that just now, but you might want to claim for damages, or get a solicitor to write to him if what he has done is illegal.

Two things - first this is aggressive behaviour whatever his excuse. I would let all my neighbours know. Second - I have found that if I go on to the council website there is a wide variety of complaint procedures and this would come under a form of anti social behavior legislation. Have a look. Make an official complaint on line it will be followed through. At the very least you will be advised. I know it sounds a faff but this will be on record. We also have a community police officers to write emails to when anti social behaviour is experienced. He needs s slap on the wrist, he probably has anger management issues and I feel sorry for his family!

Not sure if it is legal or not but it's very rude behaviour and for him to become aggressive over it is a bit strange as that is not what most people would do. Maybe he has mental health problems or maybe he is just a bully? If he was aggressive to you I would log a complaint with the Police about the situation and then if anything happens in future they will have a record of his past behaviour. Also, if he rents his property then I would find out who his landlord is and report what he has done and his aggressive behaviour to the landlord as you don't need to put up with neighbours like that. If he owns his house then I suppose there is not much you can do. He did damage your hedge which is part of your property. Take photos of the hedge and the mess he left and look up if this sort of behaviour is damage to your property in legal terms. Good luck and I hope you don't have a my other problems with that neighbour.

As this man sounds aggressive and unreasonable I would not make an enemy of him. However, this does not mean that you have to take this lying down. I'm certain that what he has done is at the very least an infringement, so why not ask the police to confirm the situation, and perhaps put a note through his door to say that you have lived peacefully in the cul de sac for years and do not wish to be on bad terms with any neighbours, that you have cleared away the cuttings he left on the path as they may have caused someone to trip, and would expect him to respect your home and privacy. Sadly he might be the type of person who thinks he has carte blanche to do what he likes - I managed to stop a neighbour hacking down a beautiful cherry tree on the pavement outside our London house because he was 'fed up with stepping on the cherries' . He would have destroyed a beautiful tree for the sake of sweeping up a few cherries once a year!

I would also ring the Council environmental officer .....who may have come across this situation before. He sounds horrible ! I am not sure what is law and what is not, but you can ask the E O about cost of removing the cuttings to the tip and whether it is your responsibility or if you can legally send him a bill (don't suppose for one minute he will pay it ! but don;t do that if he is going to be more aggressive!) I would watch, standing in the garden when he walks his wide children to school ...and if you can, video it......and also photograph your hedge. If you have a 'before' photo anywhere, all well and good. Citizens Advice might also be able to help...and if you find remains of any bird nests, the RSPB might like to know of the destruction also ....good luck ...ps you can e mail all of the above if visiting or phoning is going to take a lot of time !