The owner of a hedge at the centre of a 20-year row between neighbours has been ordered to lower it by 30cm despite saying he already halved its original height.
East Lothian planners issued a High Hedge Notice on its owner after neighbours failed to reach agreement about its height.
And they revealed that the issue had been going on for more than 20 years involving "letters, emails and discussions with East Lothian Council's mediation service".
READ MORE: East Lothian resident fights to get neighbour's hedge cut down after garden row
The hedge, which is in the garden of Eastwood, in Haddington, a Category B-listed building in the town's conservation area, blocks light from the ground floor of a neighbouring single storey property on John Brown Court.
But while the owner of the ground floor flat said it was too high, its owner pointed out that he had already cut the hedge back after it reached nearly 4 metres during the Noughties.
A report by planning officers said that the hedge owner objected to the application for the notice to be issued.
It said: "The hedge is said to have been approximately 4m in height in 1996. The hedge has since been trimmed to its current height of 2.4/2.5m in height, halved in width and has been removed completely from the south east corner , nearest the applicant's door."
Pictures submitted by the applicant showed the hedge towering over the entrance to their property, which is accessed down a narrow footpath in 2000 before it was initially cut back.
They also showed it growing above a fence boundary last summer throwing a shadow over a window and the glazed front door of the home.
Planning officers ruled the hedge, which is made up of privet and laurel, needed to be reduced to 2.13metres, however claims that cherry trees in the south of the owner's garden also created a high hedge were dismissed.
Ruling in the application, planners said the hedge "causes a detrimental effect" on the neighbour "to a level in which any occupier of that property could reasonably expect to have."
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