A WOMAN has been ordered to prune her 50ft trees after neighbours complained they were blocking out light in their gardens.

Elizabeth Wilson has the towering cypress leylandii trees in her garden but has been at loggerheads with other residents who claim they are an eyesore and a danger to their homes.

Margaret and Ronald Campbell used new legislation to get North Lanarkshire Council to take action over the giant trees in Uddingston.

They claimed the trees had been a problem since 2007 but turned to the High Hedges (Scotland) Act to solve it last summer.

Council bosses agreed with them and ruled the trees should be lopped but an appeal to the Scottish Government by Mrs Wilson succeeded in having the measurements changed.

Four trees in her garden range in height from 33 to 49 feet. Government reporter John Martin said they must come down to 13 feet and an adjacent 26-foot Japanese cherry should come down to 20 feet.

Mrs Campbell, 70, said they had applied for the legislation last August, but that the trees have been a problem since 2007.

She added that Mrs Wilson is suggesting that if the trees went, the Campbells would be able to see into her home.

However, Mrs Campbell insisted: "That isn't what we want to do.

"It is partly about the lack of light we get because of them but it's mainly to do with the safety aspect.

"It is total devastation when they come down and we've had it in the past.

"Our grandson used to sleep in the back bedroom and I dread to think what would have happened if a tree had come down and went through the house.

"One tree that came down was 18 inches in diameter so it shows the size of them."

Mrs Campbell said they did not want to argue with their neighbour and she has refused their requests to see the problem from their side.

"We don't want arguments with neighbours all we have asked her is to come round and look at the trees but she never wants to," she added.

Mr Campbell, 72, added: "When the trees get lopped we will have the sun in our garden all day, at the moment we lose all sunlight by 1pm and then have to put lights on in the house.

"We have both worked all our days and didn't want to get involved in something like this with neighbours but that's what has happened."

Mrs Wilson had used tree surgery over the years but this hadn't made much difference to the height according to Mr Martin's report.

She told the him she can see through the trees to the house beyond and says they give her privacy.

Mr Martin said neighbours who complained about the trees would have been aware of them when they moved in but added that cypress leylandii are 'fast growing' and 'need to be kept in check if they are not to cause excessive overshadowing of adjoining property

He added: "While I have some sympathy with her position, she has the benefit of a large, attractive garden with mature trees and shrubs, many of which provide adequate screening to ensure her privacy and security, so I am not convinced that these matters alone provide a sound

reason for allowing these trees to thrive to such a degree in close proximity to the new houses."

Mr Martin said the council's proposal to reduce the height of the trees to under 10 feet was 'too severe' as it would lead to the 'regrettable' loss of the Japanese cherry and reduce the other trees to 'an untidy group of bare trunks which might never recover'.

Ruling the heights should be 20 feet for the Japanese cherry and 13 feet for the cypress, he concluded: "This will substantially improve the sunlight in the applicants' garden while retaining the appellant's privacy and security."

Mrs Wilson was unavailable for comment.