A pensioner must trim a 40ft hedge at her £1.5M home - after several neighbours claimed it had ruined their lives.

Anne-Marie McQueen, 82, angered her neighbours with a large cherry laurel and cypress leylandii trees put up around the boundary of her posh home to 'protect her privacy' in a leafy suburb of Edinburgh.

But five neighbours launched an appeal after claiming their homes were being starved of light as a result.

The objectors, Douglas Tait, Margaret Claymore, Dean Guy, Victor Jack and Doreen Morgan used 'high hedge' legislation to try and force them to be cut down.

The City of Edinburgh Council only agreed to have one area reduced in size.

And the decision has now been upheld by the government after an appeal was lodged by the residents - although the ruling was varied to ensure the trees, referred to as H1, are kept below 15ft.

No action needs to be taken on a second area, referred to as H2, after it was ruled to have no impact on the neighbours.

Dean Guy, who says he's a spokesperson on behalf of all impacted residents, said "numerous previous attempts" had been made to sort the issue informally over several years."

He wrote the height of the hedge between "continues to significantly affect the enjoyment of our homes and pose a safety risk."

He added: "By the time we arrive home after work - around 6pm, we are afforded approximately 10-15 minutes of sunlight. By 6:25pm the garden is in shade."

"In the Scottish climate, this can mean the temperature dropping by several degrees - and even with a light breeze it becomes far too cold to sit in the garden and enjoy it reasonably - something the act is meant to remedy."

Ms Claymore added: "The rear garden is a vital amenity space, used for barbecues and social gatherings with family and friends sunbathing and relaxation particularly in spring and summer."

"H2 casts deep shadows across the garden and greenhouse, blocks diffuse daylight and creates a sense of enclosure that materially diminishes the property's amenity."

Mrs McQueen claimed her trees were needed to protect her privacy.

She wrote: "The house is nearly 100-years-old and so is the original laurel hedge."

"It is because some of the neighbours reduced this hedge to their own desired height that I planted the leylandii hedge for privacy. If I get all of the laurel and leylandii reduced/cut/removed there would be no privacy for any of us."

"It is not only the trees that block the light and sun. The neighbours' gardens are directly north facing. Nearly all have extended their properties and put in a garden shed."

Government reporter Paul Haggin

said he carried out a site visit and described two parallel rows of mature and semi-mature shrubs and trees that form a boundary with the rear gardens of five neighbouring properties.

He said for the service of a notice to be justified, a hedge must adversely affect the enjoyment of the domestic property which an occupant of that property could reasonably expect to have.

He added: "The appellants claim that H2 deprives them of late evening sun and this coincides with a time during the day when they wish to enjoy their gardens most."

Mr Higgins ruled the appellants would, at most, suffer a loss of
three to four hours of sunlight in the late evening.

He added: "I appreciate that this is a time when many families are at home, however, by then, and assuming that it is sunny all day, the property will have benefitted from around 13 to 14 hours of sunlight during the rest of the day, albeit with part of the garden being shaded by the house. "

"Whilst H2 is clearly of concern to the appellants, I am satisfied that at this moment in time, it is neither overbearing or"
dominant to the extent that would justify a notice.

"The issue that divides the appellants from the council, is the"
extent to which the hedge needs to be cut to maintain a reasonable level of enjoyment.

"Because of the sheer density of foliage of H1, I am proposing to vary the notice so that the initial cut is 4m and the preventative action height is no more than 5m."

"I am satisfied that H2 is a high hedge, that it acts as a barrier to light, but not to the extent that it prevents the reasonable enjoyment of the appellants' properties. "

"I am however, satisfied that the council were correct to find that H1 is a high hedge and that it does adversely affect the reasonable enjoyment of those properties. "

"But I have chosen to vary the notice to ensure that the preventative action height is below the action hedge height."