In law, adjoining gardens do not have a right to light, but....

what you can do quite legally is to cut the tree back to point where it is in line with the boundary between your property and theirs, but you cannot cut back beyond that.
You cannot take the top shoot off wither unless it is on your side of the boundary.
You must offer your neighbour the offcuts but they are not bound to remove them, or you can simply put them over the fence.
There is no point in complaining to the council unless the tree is very close to your house itself, rather than the boundary, because they are fairly powerless to enforce anything.
If its still a problem for you and your other neighbours, you would need to get a County Court judgment against the tree owner.
The best non legal method is to wait for a day when its pissing rain, preferably during the winter when there are no leaves on the tree, then pour a bucket of Sodium Chlorate mixture around the base of it. Works a treat, then when it fails to come into leaf, there's always the suspicion that the frost got it!

Posted By: Kirrie on February 2nd 2015 at 17:03:08

Message Thread

Neighbourhood disputes (General Chat) - MIKEWALKER, Feb 2, 16:21:41
- In law, adjoining gardens do not have a right to light, but.... (General Chat) - Kirrie, Feb 2, 17:03:08
  - Sodium Chlorate is banned in the EU (n/m) (General Chat) - Larry Hagman, Feb 2, 17:09:06
    - Thats mainly because its a well known ingedient for home made explosive! (n/m) (General Chat) - Kirrie, Feb 2, 17:20:04
      - or maybe not so well known........ (n/m) (General Chat) - Kirrie, Feb 2, 17:32:07
        
        Not only that it's toxic to humans as well. Nasty stuff. (n/m) (General Chat) - Old Man, Feb 2, 17:36:16
    - Maybe, but I still have some, for just this type of eventuality! (n/m) (General Chat) - Kirrie, Feb 2, 17:17:14
    - Nasty stuff it is too (n/m) (General Chat) - Old Man, Feb 2, 17:14:20
      - Even nastier for rogue cherry trees and inconsiderate neighbours! (n/m) (General Chat) - Kirrie, Feb 2, 17:18:07
        
        EBAY sells it. (n/m) (General Chat) - Pit, Feb 2, 17:20:56
- Leave cat poo on his front lawn. I do it all the time. (n/m) (General Chat) - Old Man, Feb 2, 16:51:23
- Try leaving a cheerful but hopeful note..... (General Chat) - yellowman, Feb 2, 16:44:29
  - Finally. I'll print this thread off and nail it to their door. Cheers pal. (n/m) (General Chat) - MIKEWALKER, Feb 2, 16:47:23
- Limited unless the roots are causing issues with your property (e.g. with the foundations) (General Chat) - Jim, Feb 2, 16:40:17
  - Right to light surely means I and my posse can insist they take it down a 1/3rd ? (General Chat) - MIKEWALKER, Feb 2, 16:41:58
    - you have no right to light (General Chat) - CWC, Feb 2, 16:45:29
      - I'm not having that! Its ruining sections of 3x neighbours lawns (General Chat) - MIKEWALKER, Feb 2, 16:50:10
        
        Not legal. Just kindly offer to pay to have it chopped (n/m) (General Chat) - Larry Hagman, Feb 2, 16:52:01
        
        Its not my tree! I pay to sort my trees out every 3 years or so, the man (General Chat) - MIKEWALKER, Feb 2, 16:53:15
    - Nope (n/m) (General Chat) - Larry Hagman, Feb 2, 16:43:53
    - I can imagine your neighbour sticking his head over the fence as you are sawing away. (General Chat) - Pit, Feb 2, 16:43:50
      - It is a problem though! And he's being a tit by avoiding what? ?150 for a tree surgeon to (General Chat) - MIKEWALKER, Feb 2, 16:46:44
        
        ?100 about right for a few hours hacking but a TC. (General Chat) - Pit, Feb 2, 16:47:55
        
        Well I reckon double that..... (General Chat) - yellowman, Feb 2, 16:50:53
        
        I think I'll get a letter together, all the neighbours involved sign it (General Chat) - MIKEWALKER, Feb 2, 16:54:52
        
        Yeah...start off nicely....and wait for a reply.... (General Chat) - yellowman, Feb 2, 16:59:17
        
        What's the height and spread roughly? (n/m) (General Chat) - yellowman, Feb 2, 16:47:34
        
        Hard to guess, maybe 40' tall? Just a fat mess of branch and leaf. Needs 15' off it minimu (n/m) (General Chat) - MIKEWALKER, Feb 2, 16:52:08
        
        5'2 , ankles around ears. Ginger muff (n/m) (General Chat) - Pit, Feb 2, 16:48:43
        
        Sold! (n/m) (General Chat) - yellowman, Feb 2, 16:52:21
- You are only allowed to cut the branches on your side of the fence and have to offer... (General Chat) - Larry Hagman, Feb 2, 16:32:27
  - SO I can hack off what crosses my airspace and throw it back in their yard. Cheers Larry. (n/m) (General Chat) - MIKEWALKER, Feb 2, 16:37:03
    - Unless it is a big tree that could fall down as a result... (n/m) (General Chat) - Larry Hagman, Feb 2, 16:40:56
      - Cherries are bottom heavy. (n/m) (General Chat) - Pit, Feb 2, 16:41:35
    - You can defo cut what's in your space. I did recently. Standard. (n/m) (General Chat) - Pit, Feb 2, 16:40:48
- Horses head... (n/m) (General Chat) - jAC, Feb 2, 16:31:39
- Hammer a couple of copper nails into the trunk. (n/m) (General Chat) - harry boulders, Feb 2, 16:23:18
  - How long will this take to have visible results pls? (n/m) (General Chat) - MIKEWALKER, Feb 2, 16:24:18
    - ... (General Chat) - Trent_Canary, Feb 2, 16:26:53
      - summise pls (n/m) (General Chat) - MIKEWALKER, Feb 2, 16:35:25
        
        ..... (General Chat) - Trent_Canary, Feb 2, 16:36:08
      - best try three then. (n/m) (General Chat) - harry boulders, Feb 2, 16:34:19
        
        parp! (n/m) (General Chat) - MIKEWALKER, Feb 2, 16:35:41

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