A Moray man has been ordered to cut his 65ft hedge down to size after a bitter dispute with his neighbour.
Councillors have ruled the height of John Albiston’s tree belt should be halved – and the work could cost him £10,000.
The local authority was asked to intervene by Donald Brown after negotiations between the two men broke down.
Mr Albiston stays at Little Buinach, outside Kellas, north-east of Dallas, and Mr Brown lives at nearby Buinach Lodge.
Mr Brown said the row of sitka spruce, larch, silver birch and beech trees cast an imposing shadow over his home and left it feeling “claustrophobic” and “depressing”.
He asked members of the council’s planning and regulatory services committee to resolve the dispute and their ruling yesterday was one of the first times a high hedge notice has been issued in Scotland since new legislation was introduced last year.
Mr Brown claimed the ever-growing row of trees constituted a hedge as defined by the High Hedge Act, although Mr Albiston disputed this.
Local authority planning officers ordered that the height of the trees be reduced to 10 metres (32.8ft) and councillors backed them yesterday.
Council officials recommended that the notice be issued, and that the work be completed before April to reduce any impact on nesting birds.
But last night, Mr Brown said he feared the wrangle may not yet be over – as under the act Mr Albiston has the right to appeal the council’s decision.
Mr Brown said: “It is a relief for me, but I have a mixture of feelings about the ruling – I feel no great sense of triumph.
“There still is the possibility of an appeal.
“While I can’t speak for my neighbour he does have quite strong feelings about it, as do I.”
The notice also stipulates that the high hedge be trimmed each year to keep it beneath 10 metres in height.
Mr Albiston declined to comment last night.
But in a statement his solicitors said: “In our client’s opinion the trees complained of do not cause any significant loss of light.
“They do not contribute significantly to the applicant’s house being dark.”
Only Forres Independent Councillor George Alexander did not agree that the trees should be classed as a hedge and expressed concern that granting the application would set a precedent in a part of the country which is heavily forested.
Committee chairman, Independent councillor Chris Tuke, who represents Heldon and Laich, admitted that deciding whether or not the line of trees constituted a hedge had not been straightforward.
He said: “I think it is fair to say that when the act was drawn up the legislators probably had in mind more conventional types of hedging such as leylandii, which can often be the cause of neighbour disputes.
“However, the legislation states that a row of two or more trees or shrubs can be defined as a hedge and if they are more than two metres (6.5ft) above ground level they constitute a high hedge.
“The majority of members considered that these criteria were met in this case.”