FIR GOD’S SAKE
We live next to the ‘pettiest neighbours ever’ they’ve been fighting each other over a tree for THREE YEARS
LOCALS say waring families are the “pettiest neighbours ever” after fighting over a tree for three years – and it’s still going on.
Bharat Mistry and his wife are still “at loggerheads” with their next-door neighbour in Sheffield after a fir tree was cut exactly in half.
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Graham and Irene Lee called in tree surgeons last year to cut the branches of a 16ft fir tree that had been on the Mistry’s property for 25 years.
The couple, in their 70s, had complained that the branches were hanging over their front driveway, attracting pigeons and causing a problem with bird mess and coo-ing noises.
Now, neighbours of the two families say they have still not patched things up since their falling out three years ago.
One local woman who wanted to remain anonymous told the : “The tree used to be normal but then they had a disagreement.
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“Which is why it was later cut down. I don't know what it was about, but they couldn't resolve it.”
Her husband, who also did not want to be identified, added: “I think they were friendly before though.”
Pictures of the tree in secluded cul-de-sac Brier Close in Waterthorpe went viral and were even discussed on Channel 5's Jeremy Vine show.
It even became something of a tourist attraction with local who would go to the street just to see the tree.
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The tree remains sawn in half but it is not known if it has been trimmed back again or if the branches have not grown back.
Mum-of-two Mrs Mistry, in her 50s, said at the time: “Many of us have lived here for a long time and the neighbours are trying not to take sides. They have their opinions about the tree but are not vouching for them."
She said her own tree surgeon was horrified when he saw what had happened.
Mrs Mistry told The Sun Online: “He was gobsmacked and couldn’t believe it. We have always maintained it well, cutting it and re-shaping it every other year.
“He said to leave it for a year, if it survives, and see if anything grows back. He said it may or may not.
“Our tree surgeon would never have cut it in half. The Lees got a different one. They didn’t ask our permission, they just told us what was happening.
“We’d never had any issues or problems before. It is such a lovely neighbourhood.
“We were always neighbourly towards each other but now it’s a brief hello only.
“The Lees lived there before us and the tree on our side had never been a problem.
"But they started saying the branches were hanging over and there was too much mess and noise from the pigeons it was attracting. What do you expect? They’re birds!
"We were really upset, devastated when they chopped it half down. There was no need. We could have come to a compromise.”
Mr and Mrs Lee declined to comment when approached last week by the news outlet.
Irene previously said: “The birds weren't really the problem, the tree was blocking our driveway.
“What you can see at the moment is a third of what the tree was - we had two thirds of it hanging over on our side.
“We got it professionally trimmed, afterwards the tree surgeon told me "you know it's going to grow back?"
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“If that's the case then I'll cut it again, especially if it grows out too much.
“The neighbours may own the tree but if it overhangs on our property then we are legally allowed to trim it back.”
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