JK Rowling has been blamed for causing disruption after traffic lights were installed while a 30ft hedge on her property is being trimmed.
A team of gardeners have been tending to the Lleylandii bushes outside the author’s Edinburgh house since Monday, and have installed a four-way traffic light system due to the large number of vehicles involved in the routine maintenance.
Edinburgh city council say the traffic lights will be there until Friday, reducing part of the road outside the author’s home into a single lane, but residents aren’t happy with the resulting tailbacks.
“It’s just taking ages for them to cut the bush back,” one onlooker told reporters.
“It’s chaos around there. The lights are taking too long to change, especially on the side roads. There are long queues tailing back from the lights.”
Lleylandii bushes are known for growing quickly and rapidly, making them popular among people wanting to screen their home for more privacy.
Despite being a fan of foliage, Rowling’s green credentials have often been called into question.
In 2011 she bought the house next to hers, a ‘perfectly adequate’ £1m mansion, only to be granted planning permission to knock it down to make way for a garden extension to her existing house.
At the time, a member of the Cockburn Association said while they didn’t object to her plans, “We regret and question the sustainability aspects of this demolition.”
