My hedge is destroyed

Ahhhh the myth of free legal advice rears its incorrect head yet again.
If only I had a £1 for every time I have seen this on Gransnet.
To be clear.......a odd solicitor may offer a free consultation for say 30 mins but there is no obligation for them to do so, and indeed why on earth should they?

Really sorry this has happened to you. Always shakes you up when someone behaves like this. Speaks volumes that he did this whilst you were out and excused what he had done as a 'favour'. I'm not surprised he walked away. The only real response to your upset would have been an apology, but then that would have destroyed his excuse of helping you out.

I would put cctv up at the front of your house, one you can monitor whilst out.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/problems-where-you-live/if-you-disagree-with-your-neighbour-about-a-tree-or-hedge/

I was under the impression that you could only 'trim' hedges from May until September due to wildlife.

A similar thing happened to my friend a few weeks ago . Someone has built a bungalow at the corner of the lane where she lives . She lives almost at the top of the lane but there obviously was enough room to build this bungalow. There is a clause in the planning that the hedge can only be cut to within one foot of the top of her fence. She came back from collecting a prescription to find the hedge way below her fence. He actually, laughed in her face when she went round to ask why he had done it. It was blocking thee sun from their conservatory. He should have thought of that before he built.

Did this man cut back any of your other neighbours overhang at all ?

I don't think he went about this in the right way - he could have just knocked on the door and asked if either you could trim the hedge back or would you like him to do it. I wonder if he took advantage of the fact that you were out although he would obviously been seen and recognised by other neighbours. It's best not to have a dispute over it though in case it escalates further.

We have cars parked on the pavement further up our street and a couple of houses have large bushes which make it difficult to walk past especially if it's raining. I quite often end up stepping onto the road to avoid them.

Some years ago we fell out with our (then) new neighbours when we came home one day to find they'd taken the back slats off their side of the dividing fence in preparation to replace the whole thing leaving huge gaps. She said she'd knocked several times but we'd ignored her! They were adamant it was their fence despite the fact we'd put it up and are responsible for that side of the property. Words ensued and things were very frosty for some time as they did a lot of other work causing noise and vibration for weeks on end. However the fence they replaced it with looks much better and over time we have become quite friendly with them - as they're the age of our own sons I think they look on us as the elderly neighbours and offer help when they think we need it

Neglected bushes and hedges can also be a road safety issue.

I lnocked on someone’s door a couple of years ago to ask them if they would trim their large bush in the front garden.

The house was on the end of a road near me by a t junction and the large neglected bush made it very difficult to turn right as the view of the road was obscured.

I was polite but the woman looked a bit annoyed at me.

I was going to give it a couple of weeks then I would have got on to the council.

However within a week the offending bush had been scalped and it now gets done regularly !

I have had a similar incident where a neighbour cut my side hedge. If the hedge is on your property it is illegal to cut down anything on another persons land. You should contact the council as previous posts have said and request someone to come down and look at the situation before it is cleared up make a formal complaint and they will deal with it for you in terms of warnings. I strongly advise asking your solicitor to also send a letter to this person confirming his illegal actions. The law is there to protect people so use it. This person has been a thoughtless bully who has not conducted himself correctly through the right procedures and for the sake of everyone in your area needs to be told in no uncertain terms. Solicitors advice is free for 39 minutes and a letter should cost no
More than £30. . Free legal advice and help is also available from citizens advice . Best of luck

There are some frightening weird people out there Cava and Luckygirl. No-one has a right to cut and or remove plants from your garden even if they did not like the position of them!! I would definitely put this behaviour on record with the police.

We had just moved into this house when we had an anonymous note pushed through the door saying our boundary hedge was forcing them onto the road. Next thing a man from the council came to inspect it. This was our first week here! We never found out who sent the note and have always kept the hedge trimmed. That neighbour of yours was well out of order.

I don’t think anyone thinks this is “just a hedge cutting dispute between neighbours “ or are minimising it but the neighbour and the OP are living in close proximity your story sounds very different as your child was threatened and the man actually chased her down the road! From all I gather here the man was verbally aggressive and rude but not outright threatening so I don’t think the police will want to get involved however of course the OP can raise a report with them and see if they might be willing to speak to him.
My point really is that neighbour disputes are best avoided if at all possible as it does escalate and can make your life a misery and this has to be paramount over any “legal rights”

I would be careful. He sounds a bit out of control.

I'd fill in the police online form to make sure there is a record. Also keep a record of this and any other events. Plus, let other sympathetic neighbours know, in case you need support / backup if he's nasty or god forbid violent in the future.

Difficult perhaps to judge, as we don't have photos or proper description of before and after. And yes, if the hedge had grown sideways to take a significant part of the pavement- it does put others in danger, children, wheelchairs, prams, mobility scooters, etc. BUT- even if that was the case - he should have discussed this with you beforehand- and should never ever have done so in your absence in this way. Totally wrong and rude. But please be honest here- was the hedge really hampering normal passage on the pavement?

Pam don’t most rental agreements have something in them that boils down in lay terms to not annoying the neighbours?

It’s not a hedge cutting dispute between neighbours - it’s not a shared hedge. . Don’t listen to those minimising his behaviour. As someone once said ‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time’. He did this deliberately, had to go and fetch the cutters - not just a spontaneous kicking of the hedge for example.

Without going into all the details, when I had to report a neighbour for exhibiting over the top angry behaviour which involved shouting at my dd and chasing her down the road and hammering on my front door and screaming, I used the online form. Two police women officers came round a few days later. They took it very seriously, said acting early prevented escalation, took my age into account, were interested in the fact he was a renter ( said they would inform landlord) and then a police officer visited the neighbour a few days later to ‘have a word’. Two years later, no more trouble ever.

Re the renter bit. We rented a house to a family that caused upset in a small cul de sac.
As the other residents knew us we were always informed. Although, not legally responsible for their behaviour, I did always take it up with the tenants and try and sort out the problem. In the end I got rid of them. Life is too short. I now have good tenants who annoy no one.

Play the long game indeed. There is nothing worse than neighbour disputes as they seep into your whole life, and you stop feeling comfortable in your own home. Not worth it over a hedge , in my view, especially if it is likely to just grow back.

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.

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?

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

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

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?
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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 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!