Tree sliced exactly in half over Sheffield driveway row – ‘it’s just made birds problem worse’

It’s now 18 months since the tree outside Bharat Mistry’s home on peaceful Briar Close, in Waterthorpe, was cut in half, and neighbours are unhappy that it still remains in the same state. And one reckons a bird problem, which was reported to have caused the tree to be cut, had been made worse because of the action.

When The Star visited the street today, it was peaceful, full of well kept gardens, and with the quiet sound of birdsong breaking the silence. Most of the properties on the street are bungalows, and one resident said most are retired.

No one was answering the door at Mr Mistry’s house, the detached property in whose grounds the tree is growing. Graham Lee, next door, who is reported to have paid to have the branches over his drive cut off, said he did not want to talk about the matter.

Mr Mistry has previously said that his neighbour had cut away the branches because of concerns over the number of birds settling in the tree, making noise and mess on his driveway.

One neighbour, who identified himself only as Stuart, said he was very unhappy about the situation, which had left his his home with a direct view of the sliced tree.

He said: “I think it’s disgusting what happened. That tree was lovely before it was cut in half. We used to call it the ‘lollipop tree’ before it was cut like it is now, because it looked just like a lollipop. I know something went on between the neighbours, and I believe the man whose tree it was was looking at getting a net put up to stop the birds.

“Now there seem to be more birds in the tree because cutting the branches has left it open. I just think it’s ruined a lovely tree. You used to come round here and see a pretty cul-de-sac. Everyone looks after their gardens.

“The man who owns it has tried to shape it, but whatever he does, it's not going to look right. I look out of my living room and all I see is a mutilated tree. It’s a shame, because he’s a lovely man, the politest man you could meet.”

He said that now, anytime time he mentions where he lives, people always know it as the street with the tree cut in half.

Another resident, walking a dog, said the family whose garden the tree is in were a lovely family. “You would have thought it would be sorted by now,” she said. “It would be nice to see it all sorted.”

She said when reports of the tree first surfaced, people came to the street with cameras and drones, taking pictures, but that died down.

Another neighbour said she was lucky – from her house she could not see the cut-away side of the tree.

“It just looks like a normal tree from my window,” she said. She said the street was very quiet and a lovely place to live.