A regional press story about a neighbour dispute over trees so big they can be seen from space has gone global.

The story from Plymouth daily The Herald has been featured in titles as far away as Australia and New Zealand.

The 16 Leylandii trees were planted by David Alvand shortly after he moved to his property in 1991, but have now grown so high they tower over his house and those of his neighbours.

Herald reporter Edd Moore picked up the story when a photographer was sent to cover a Golden Wedding Anniversary nearby and was told about the hedge.

“The best stories come to you when you’re out and about in the community,” he said.

The story story was picked up by national newspapers and broadcasters before being circulated worldwide.

Mr Alvand, of Churchway, Weston Mill, is well-known to The Herald and its readers for getting into arguments with his neighbours.

Ten years ago he built 3.7m high walls on both sides of his garden in what became dubbed the ‘Berlin Wall’ by local residents, but he was ordered to lower them after complaints.

Comments

Rob (09/09/2010 10:38:35)
Do you honestly think they can be seen from space? maybe they can be seen by google’s mapping plane – but space? Come on, think about what you are (re-)printing.

Neil Hodge (09/09/2010 12:20:11)
Don’t you just love local news reporting? I cracked up when I read this quote: “The best stories come to you when you’re out and about in the community”. What was the story headline – “Man grows tree in garden – shock/scoop!”? Also, that tree is obviously more than a few years old – it’s good to see how frequently journalists at The Herald get out from behind their desks to go into the community they love to serve…