Three Edinburgh homeowners who are locked in a battle with their neighbour over a 12ft hedge have taken their fight to have it lopped to the Scottish government.
David Linkie, Jeremy Jones and a third neighbour claim 12ft leylandii trees owned by Barry Rice make their lives a misery.
They said they have to carry out 'dangerous' and 'high risk' maintenance of the hedge twice a year in a bid to stop loss of light at their £500,000 homes on the outskirts of the capital.
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They claim lowering the trees could slash their energy bills and increase 'brightness and warmth' in their back gardens. They also claim they have been forced to buy hedge-trimming equipment as well as safety glasses, gloves and buckets.
The men applied to the City of Edinburgh Council under high hedge laws in a bid to have them lopped after previous attempts at resolving the issue failed.
But they were left devastated when the council refused their application and concluded it did not prevent the enjoyment of their homes. They have now lodged a joint appeal over the ruling to the Scottish Government.
An appeal letter on their behalf, said: "This appeal asserts that the revised guidance to local authorities has not been applied correctly, and there are errors in the parameters used to calculate light loss.
"The maintenance involves trimming at unsafe heights in the range of 13-18ft for a total border length of over 74ft. This requires a minimum of two fit and able people.
"There is clearly high risk involved due to the height, volume of work involved and using dangerous and sharp hedge trimming tools required to undertake the job two times a year.
"The hedge trimming requires you to scale 8-12 ft up fully extended long ladders which is high risk and dangerous work to undertake and this will be an even higher risk as we each get older.
"Households have also, regularly had to purchase expensive and fit for purpose hedge trimming equipment, tarps, buckets, gloves, safety glasses."
Rice rejected the complaints and told the council the hedge had been maintained at its current height for 20 years.
He said any 'shading and dampness' was common in the location because of woodland around the estate and modifications made to the gardens belonging to his neighbours.
City of Edinburgh Council said issues relating to safety and overhanging foliage were 'outwith the scope' of high hedge laws.
Refusing the application, they added: "While it was the case that the impression was that the hedge was high for the suburban properties and higher than necessary to provide reasonable levels of privacy for the hedge owner, consideration of the above factors and in particular the representations provided by all parties and taking into account including the different characteristics of each of the applicant's property, indicate that the hedge has some adverse impact on each property.
"It is not so high that it prevents the enjoyment of any of the applicant's properties that they could reasonably expect to have."
A government reporter will issue a decision in due course.
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