I’ve no privacy to sunbathe now that our neighbours have chopped the trees down

DEAR DEIDRE: I CAME home from work to find my neighbours had chopped their trees down, thus exposing my previously very private garden.

Our garden used to feel like a secret sanctuary because their established trees and bushes were planted right the way down the length of our boundary.

My husband and I rent our property.

He is 41 and I’m 44.

We used to enjoy the quiet life, with no footballs coming over or people wanting to talk over the fence.

I used to sunbathe in a bikini but now I don’t feel I’ll be able to sit in my garden and have a drink without feeling in view.

My landlord hasn’t been in the country for weeks but do we have any rights about getting something done about it?

DEIDRE SAYS:  If the trees had preservation orders on them – where trees can’t be felled without permission from the local planning department – you might be able to take action.

Have a look at your local authority’s Tree Preservation Order Map to see if your neighbours’ trees were covered.

If there wasn’t a TPO, I’m afraid these were on their property so they had the right to fell them.

Try to have a friendly chat to discover their plans for the garden.

They may be replacing the old hedge with something else.

Talk to your landlord and ask if they would share with you the cost of some screening.

Pictures posed by models.