Neighbour trespassed and hacked our hedge down

neilmcl

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jtO-iNN7svLVXBnS-YCQg_Ns1Odd4Cjr/view

Wow, I thought at first they simply trimmed the height but they've actually made a right mess of that.

Boohoo

Jadeelizabeth95 wrote: »

Awesome thank you 😊

drive.google.com/file/d/1jtO-iNN7svLVXBnS-YCQg_Ns1Odd4Cjr/view?usp=drivesdk

!!!!!!.


A very large polo mint????????

silvercar

https://www.drive.google.com/file/d/1jtO-iNN7svLVXBnS-YCQg_Ns1Odd4Cjr/view

My guess would be that they only hacked down the middle bit to make it look like they did it from their side. If you hadn't have spotted the trespass they could have claimed they attacked only from their side. Certainly that would be the part that may intrude into their land.

Jadeelizabeth95

The thing is the entire hedge is on our property, it takes up our garden space not theirs. So by law they can only trim overhanging branches which is absolutely ok, this is what we do with our other next door but he's taken out the main branches.

spadoosh

Yeh looks like theyre tried to trim overhanging branches that were rubbing and potentially damaging his shed/garage. Presumably found the offending branch and then took it to the stump without realising it was most of the bush.

What do you actually want from this?

Bear in mind:
You cant make people say sorry
Going to court over a hedge with your neighbour is going to cause friction.
Youll have to declare when selling your house that youve had a disupute with the neighbour potentially effecting the ability to sell in future.

I cant see where youd go from this. It wouldve been easier to tell him at the time to stop damaging your porperty. Anything you do now is likely to be worth a lot more trouble than a bush with a hole in it.

neilmcl

Your best bet with that now is to cut both of the sides so that's level otherwise the middle is not going to fill out again. You definitely need to have a word with these jokers.

spadoosh

Jadeelizabeth95 wrote: »

The thing is the entire hedge is on our property, it takes up our garden space not theirs. So by law they can only trim overhanging branches which is absolutely ok, this is what we do with our other next door but he's taken out the main branches.

When you say 'by law' you mean civil law and not police officer law. Youll need to sue them. I suspect if you do theyd counter sue for damages to the shed/garage roof.

Jadeelizabeth95

There is no damage their garage or shed none of it was even in contact with it and if there was a problem that's up to them to trim the over hanging. The hedges have been here since the houses were built... We keep it shorter and tidier than the previous owners did. But thank you for making me feel like it's my fault they maliciously attacked my property, I'll make sure I go confront a angry man on my own next time ) for the record I'm 23 years old and on my own.

Jadeelizabeth95

Thank you neil, that's what I'm thinking as well. They've done this so we rip it out and put a fence up but with us both working full time it's not going to happen right away so not really sure what they're gaining!

Sea_Shell

I've seen the photo now. Yes it looks silly. Trimming the top level will make it look a bit better and less messy.

Your options are:

Wait for it to grow back.
Plant another shrub to try and fill the hole.
Affix fencing behind the shrub to block the hole.

You seem to want us to tell you you can sue the neighbour for damage/distress/loss of privacy, but realistically where would that get you and cost £££ in the process. Also what PROOF do you have that they did it. It'll be their word against yours.