AN ELDERLY woman says she has been complaining about a tree casting a shadow over her garden for 20 years to no avail.

Theresa Stott lives in Acre Field, in Harwood - just in front of Longsight Park.

She said the former owner of the park planted conifer trees to create a French-style garden but he passed away some years ago.

Mrs Stott said the ‘30ft’ conifers block the sunlight from her garden and she has been trying to get them cut down for two decades.

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The 80-year-old said: “We’ve been on to the trees department of Bolton Council for nearly 20 years. I don’t seem to be getting anywhere.

“It takes all the sunlight from our garden.

“Somebody advised me to take them to court but I wasn't chancing it. I don’t have the money in case we lost.”

Earlier this week, a man was ordered to pay more than £2,000 after refusing to cut down a conifer hedge, half a mile away in Longsight, Harwood.

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Bolton Council pursued the case following a series of complaints from resident James Davies, which went on for at least three years.

Mrs Stott suggested that Bolton Council were hypocritical in seeking financial compensation for this particular case, when the tree blocking her sunlight has been a problem for a much longer period of time.

She added: “I hit the roof when I saw the article in the paper. It’s absolutely disgusting, I feel so sorry for him being fined that much.

“It’s one law for them and another law for another.

“The last time I spoke with the council they said they were going to trim them but they’ve not, they’ve just left them to grow and grow and grow.”

Bolton Council confirmed that Mrs Stott has complained about the tree, with the last official complaint coming in 2014.

They said that due to the proximity of the trees to the property and a number of other factors, it does not fall into the circumstances which would require it to be cut down.

A spokesman for Bolton Council said: “The trees in question are in a public park and stand a significant distance from the property boundary.

“High hedge legislation is complex and only applies in very specific circumstances and does not apply in this case.”