Bloody great tree root in back garden - can we chop it ?

[LunaMoona]

Am trying to clear bottom half of garden to put down some paving. It is currently gravelled with some shrubs etc. Have discovered a large tree root coming up above the level of the planned paving. Prob from one of the large trees on property backing on to ours. My dad reckons we could just chop it out (the tree obviously has lots of roots !). Has anyone done this with success or would the tree just fall down ?

No idea where you stand legally but I can't believe that it would fall down because you cut just one root

I know it's not quite the same thing, but I have a few large shrubs in my garden which not surprisingly also have lengthy roots. It can make planting other stuff in borders quite tricky sometimes 'cos you dig down 4 inches and there are all these roots in the way. Obviously, I try to avoid damaging them but have resorted to cutting them sometimes so I can plant something else.

I've never had any problems.