RESIDENTS have slammed bumbling council jobsworths who massacred their hedge, leaving it a mess.
Council workers in Colehill, Dorset were accused by shocked locals of destroying what had been a pretty boundary along the pavement.
Nothing was left of the pleasant greenery in Park Homer Drive except for a few stumps and roots.
Homeowners said they had spent 10 years happily maintaining the hedgerow themselves to make the suburban road more attractive and because it was important for wildlife.
They claimed the "hatchet job" has had a dramatic effect on the character of the neighbourhood and are fuming they had not been warned of the work in advance.
But Dorset Council said the shrubs were cut down for safety reasons as they caused a hazard to both walkers on the footpath and road users.
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A spokeswoman said they had originally pruned the top of the greenery because it restricted the sight line for motorists.
When carrying out their annual hedge cut last summer workers realised the shrubs needed more maintenance than the council could provide so got rid of them altogether.
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Resident Andrew Kenyon said: "My complaint is there has been no negotiation with the neighbours at all.
"There has been no consultation or anybody telling us what was going to happen.
"I was out for the day and came back and found they had just destroyed the whole lot. We were horrified, it's a total mess.
"There's five immediate neighbours affected but everybody is cross about it, it was a very pleasant beautiful road.
"The council keeps changing its story. As far as we are concerned, there was no problem with sight lines for traffic.
"One person complained about the brambles but we don't really think there was a problem with brambles either as when they grew onto the footpath we would cut them back.
He added: "To be honest, we have already maintained the verge for the last ten years because they just don't cut it back often enough.
"The area is quite green and very landscaped, which is very attractive.
"But mostly we are concerned about the ecology.
"The hedge would have been full of insects and birds and we don't know whether they did an ecology report or not but they seem to have contravened their own policy.
The council keeps changing its story
Fuming resident Andrew slammed the council's eco-hypocrisy.
He said: "Dorset Council has policies in place about maintaining verges and encouraging growth.
"There's a whole statement on their website about ecology in the verge, and they've ripped it all out. It's a bit of a contradiction."
The parish council in Colehill said they had not known anything about the work until residents told them.
A spokeswoman said they would be writing to Dorset Council for an explanation.
Dorset Council said: "The shrubs at Park Homer Drive were originally reduced in height due to the restricted highways sight line for residents and road users and the hazard it caused walkers trying to use the footpaths.
"Last summer we carried out our annual hedge cut on this area (and the whole of East Dorset) and it was apparent that these shrubs needed much more maintenance than we could provide to remain safe.
"Some plants had not recovered from the original reduction in height, others were unmaintainable, and some were not designed to be cut back hard (as required given the location) and we still had the bramble issue.
"Some sections still have the shrubs on the verges, the biggest section being the low laurel at the bottom of Park Homer Drive, and some individual shrubs on others.
"The Hypericum which was growing on other verges (mainly under the trees) will return and hopefully produce more flowers from this hard cut."
According to the Royal Horticultural Society, high hedges law cannot require the removal of a hedge or work that would result in the death of a hedge.
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Local authorities cannot automatically take action when a hedge grows over 2m, unless a justifiable complaint is made.
Although high hedges law cannot be used to pre-empt hedge growth, it may legally be decided that a hedge needs to be cut back in stages to minimise the risk of killing it.
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