Neighbours workmen in our garden. CF or not?

[Vindscreenviper]

We've been out since 10am & when we got home (6ish) I noticed a rake propped up against the wall in back garden, I thought dh had left it there & forgot about it.
Sitting out after dinner I realized that some of our ndn's small trees & shrubs that were dangling over the fence had been cut back a lot. Looking closer I saw that most of my shrubs & flowers below had been trampled down & there was a lot of clippings mixed in with the carnage.
I checked our CCTV & it turns out that two workmen were in our garden while we were out cutting ndn's trees from our side too.
We get on well with ndn & I'm surprised they didn't check with us first. Obviously it's not their fault that the blokes stamped all over my lovely alliums etc but AIBU to be a pissed off about it?

@SycamoreGap

It is in certain circumstances....Google the 'Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992'. Better to get consent first or apply through court, but there is legal provision for this.

[quote Undertheoldlindentree]@SycamoreGap

It is in certain circumstances....Google the 'Access to Neighbouring Land Act 1992'. Better to get consent first or apply through court, but there is legal provision for this.[/quote]
And that doesn’t apply in this case. The neighbour didn’t ask, the OP didn’t say ‘no’ and the neighbour didn’t apply to the court for access.

So I stand by my original comment that legally what the workmen did wasn’t legal.

She came to ask but you weren't in. The job couldn't be completed without access to your garden (which she probably didn't know beforehand, hence not asking you earlier)

I honestly don't think it's a big deal. Yes, the guys should have been more careful, but again, that's not her fault.

Presumably you'd have said yes to the request had you been in, and as you're all helpful neighbours, aged have known that. Sending the workmen home without the job finished would be a huge pain. That sort of company is get busy at the moment so getting them back would be a chore at some cost.

I'd have a chat and ask which company it was, because they trampled your pants and you'd like to complain to them.

Aged= she'd

I get on very well with my NDN - I’m friends with one set, we have nights out together, we have keys to each other’s houses in case of emergencies, and we chat happily to the other set. We take parcels in for each other, we take each other’s bins down when we’re on holiday, we WhatsApp each other. It’s very friendly.

I cannot imagine ever telling my workmen to go into their gardens and cut back my bushes without admin permission first - if they had to come back another day then that’s what would have happened - and I absolutely wouldn’t have allowed them to trample on my NDN’s plants. You just don’t.

OP - you are not being unreasonable here. Your neighbour has overstepped the neighbourly boundary here (literally and figuratively).

*getting your permission

I had the other side of this. Workman cut down ivy between the properties. Didn't come around and clean up and I was left with a massive mess on the path. I just assumed they would have tidied so Didn't say anything and didn't notice till the next day when it was all wet. Be grateful they cleaned up.