OAP couple told to rip out flowerbed they’ve tended for 30 years – because ONE neighbour complained it was dangerous to cars
Sheffield City Council gave Brian and Sally Williams one week to get rid of the flowerbed but villagers have started a petition to save the roadside garden
A COUPLE of keen gardeners were left seething after being ordered to remove a flowerbed they planted 30 years ago after ONE complaint.
Brian and Sally Williams planted the flowers outside their house in Loxley, South Yorks, to encourage wildlife and bring colour to the area.
But Sheffield Council sent a letter to the pair on Saturday saying they had a week to remove the thriving flowerbed or pay for it to be uprooted.
The council said it received an anonymous complaint from a neighbour, which the council upheld, because the flowers are a danger to road users.
A 3,000-strong petition from fellow villagers has been started in response to the council's decision.
Retired landlady Sally, 69, said: "We are absolutely devastated. This is our passion.
"This is what gets us out of the house on a cold morning and keeps us busy.
"Then to receive a letter like this out of the blue - it's appalling."
Sally said the only people who come past their house are two neighbours, the milk lady and the postman.
When she first moved to the cottage with husband Brian, 80, she says the road had been neglected by the council and was riddled with potholes and wild grass.
Since then, the conservationist couple have spent more than £1,000 beautifying the narrow lane with their elaborate flowerbed.
She said: "As a keen gardener, I see a bit of neglected land and I just had to smarten it up.
"We have had nothing but praise for what we have done here."
Sheffield City Council said: "We have sympathy with the nearby homeowner who has attempted to stop cars driving over the highway verge on what is a very narrow, single-track lane.
"Unfortunately the placing of flowerbeds, as well as stones and water barrels, on the highway outside the property, could be a danger to other road users."
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