The decision to cut down two 70ft trees and give them an ASBO has been branded “ridiculous” by angry residents.
The two cypress trees are getting the chop after one neighbour in a cul-de-sac in Bristol complained about them.
Residents living in Druetts Close have slammed the decision to have the trees, which have been in place for 50 years, removed.
Bristol City Council has also put a felling notice on the trees and has classed them as a nuisance.
The council says that the felling of the trees is on the grounds that they are legally defined as a hedge, under the same laws covering antisocial behaviour orders.
The notice, written by the council, says: “Trees causing a nuisance as defined by the Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003 – High Hedges Section 8.”
The act states that if a hedge is made up of evergreen or semi-evergreen trees or shrubs of more than two in a line and over two metres in heights and acts as a barrier to light or access then it is classed as a “high hedge.”
Angry neighbours said they are not happy with the council’s decision.
Laura Lawrenson said she thinks it “does not make any sense” and could not understand how the trees could be classed as a hedge.
She said: “It’s a shame because those trees have been there since the early 1970s, at the same time as the estate was built.
“Everybody is really sad about it.”
Laura said the cul-de-sac’s children love playing near the tree and will miss it if it gets the chop.
Former councillor, Chris Coldbreath, 64, who lives in the cul-de-sac said it was “ridiculous.”
He said: "I don't think they are working properly within the law. The law cannot be used to remove or damage trees - and yet they are using the law to try and remove these trees.
"The whole thing is a travesty."
Ellie Haywood, 20, has grown up in the area and says the trees “feel like part of the road.”
She said: "They've just been there for so long that it feels like they're part of the road.
"I've lived here since I was three, and the trees have just always been there. I feel like I've grown up with them. It's a shame, really. I would be sad to see them go."
A Bristol City Council spokesman said the action being taken is not a matter of council policy.
They added: "But it is to ensure compliance with national legislation, which designates this type of tree as a hedge.
"We are responding to a complaint about the hedge, in line with the legislation, and have reviewed the options available to us.
"Reducing these trees to the necessary size would leave them unlikely to survive and removing and replanting the tree has been agreed as the best option.
"We have received a number of comments from local residents supporting this approach.
"We're also investigating and offering further tree-planting spots to bring us closer to our aim of doubling the city's tree canopy by 2046.'"
