Neighbour keeps cutting our side of the hedge

[Wittsendhasarrived]

We're in a semi-detached house and there's a laurel hedge right down the centre of the boundary line between our gardens.
The neighbours have lived there a lot longer than we have here and have always cut the hedge annoyingly low so we can both see directly into each others' garden. We asked very politely several times the first summer we were here for them to stop cutting it below 6 feet on our side but they kept doing it. At the end of that summer they separated and only she remained in the property and she did stop cutting our side and finally we had grown a good 6 foot hedge and had the privacy we wanted. However, today I've just got home to discover she's done it again and we can see straight into her garden and hers our again! FFS! I'm so annoyed. If I had the money I'd just build an actual wooden fence on our side because this is ridiculous! Sadly I don't.
How can we stop her cutting the hedge so low on our side!

What are you doing on your side that's so private?

I also want to know who owns the hedge!

Hedges are not always owned by one person. Our hedge is jointly owned with each side responsible for maintaining their side. Was a nightmare to get them to agree to remove 3m from the height….

It’s quite normal to not want to be able to make eye contact with your neighbours when you’re in your back garden.

I expect they planted it so she sees it as hers and wants it low for some reason .
I would plant your own laurels on the inside and tell her not to touch them .

She can cut it as long as there are no nesting birds in it.

I was told this the other week by someone who (unfortunately for them) own all the fences/hedges surrounding their property. They could only cut one hedge as the other two had nesting birds in it.

This.

Or put a fence up right next to the hedge on your side.

Depending on where the sun is during the day it may kill the hedge completely.

A six foot high hedge is much harder to trim and keep under control than one that is, say five foot high. That's why I keep mine at the lower height - even then, it's still tricky, balancing at the top of a step ladder with a chain saw in hand!

@Sparklfairy

LAUREL

Prune in either spring or summer. Mature plants can tolerate hard pruning in spring, cutting back to the old wood.

What is the neighbour wanting to see so badly that she’s cutting the hedge so low that she can’t get privacy? You do know that most people do actually prefer not to be overlooked in their back garden? I’d phone the police if it were me given that I’ve got two small girls and a toddler boy who’s been naked in the pool almost the entire week. The op has the right to privacy whether she’s sunbathing in her bikini or pruning her rose bushes without her neighbours gawping at her

The daft twat over the back pays cowboys to trim his row of trees every year. I like it when he's had it done as I get more light in, so no argument there, but being cowboys they NEVER check for nesting birds!!

I've called them out over it, but I just get a mouthful of abuse & basically told they're not my fucking trees & 'so what' about fucking birds.

on Monday I'm going to call the council and find the number I need to call in the heat if the moment, not the sometime we might get back to you number!!!

Different issue, but thank you for the reminder!

@Wittsendhasarrived I'd get the deeds out and read them carefully. if they have been planted to mark the boundary (as many are) I'm not sure what you can do legally.

Firstly I'd go around and ask what she thinks she's playing at ! (Might be a miscommunication with someone she paid to do it) & get her assurance it won't happen again! If she's not willing to do that, then id be very tempted to install something that she can't cut through.

there must be a law/regulation, about what happens in these situations, they're not unusual.

builders/developers using trees/hedges to mark the boundary need shooting!!