A woman was caught on CCTV dumping a pile of hedge trimmings on her neighbour’s driveway as their bitter four-year row over who cuts the boundary came to a head.
Lara Acutt, 37, installed cameras after falling out with Julie Wayte over the laurel that separates their homes.
Julie, 61, says she is angry about having to trim the 5ft hedge, which belongs to her neighbour. But Lara claims she would be happy to cut it – if Julie lets her on to her drive to do so.
Nottinghamshire Police were called after Julie blocked Lara’s drive with trimmings earlier this month.
Nurse Lara said: “The situation has got beyond ridiculous. I was shocked when I watched the CCTV and caught Julie in the act. It’s un-neighbourly and disrespectful. Particularly when I have been so fair.”
The pair, of Newark, Nottinghamshire, had tried mediation meetings earlier this year but the clippings incident ended hopes of a reconciliation. And the footage from May 13 has had tens of thousands of views since Lara posted it on Facebook .
Hairdresser Julie said: “There was nowhere else to put the branches. I needed the bag to fill it up again. I did not mean for it to be disrespectful. If I wanted to be malicious, I could have thrown the whole thing over. I couldn’t believe it when she put [the footage] of me on Facebook. I said, ‘What I’ve done is returned your property.’”
The pair have been at loggerheads since 2014, when Julie and husband Charlie moved in. Lara, a single mum with a seven-year-old daughter, claims she got a frosty reception when she visited in 2015 to ask if she could do her “annual trim”.
Lara said: “She refused to let me on to her drive and said she would do it herself.
“Over a few days, I ended up with glass jars dumped on my driveway, then bags of hedge clippings would appear at the end of my drive. I said in mediation, ‘If you want me to do the hedge, I will happily do it.’
“It was agreed. Then I went to do it and she said ‘no’.”
But Julie said: “I would like her to cut our side of the hedge. She has never asked if she can come over and cut it.”
Nottinghamshire Police said they are powerless to intervene, adding: “We have spoken to both parties and are continuing to liaise with them to resolve any issues.”
