Camilla's hedge war

Jul 27, 2006, 14:34 GMT

An outraged neighbour of Britain's Duchess of Cornwall has complained her overgrown hedge is preventing dustmen from collecting his rubbish.

Ralph Adams, 83, says the 150-yard hedge is blocking the refuse truck's entrance to his narrow road.

The pensioner - who suffers from arthritis - is now forced to wheel his rubbish bin to the near-by road to have it emptied.

He told Britain's Daily Express newspaper: 'The dustmen told me I'd have to push my bin to the main highway. I am disabled, I can't do that at my age. I was told that unless Camilla cut back her hedge it would be too dangerous for vehicles to come and collect our rubbish.'

The pensioner wrote to Camilla's solicitor last year asking for the hedge to be chopped at her Wiltshire property and the hedge was soon trimmed.

However, now it has grown back and desperate Mr Adams has considered taking the matter into his own hands.

He said: 'I'm planning to call in an agricultural hedge cutter to cut it back. I just hope she'll come to her senses and try to be a good neighbour.'

The local council has promised to make more effort to collect the pensioner's refuse.

A spokesman said: 'We will send a lorry next week and if they can't access the road we will send a smaller vehicle to collect anything they have left behind.

'Mr Adams has been a resident for a very long time and we will continue to collect his rubbish.'

Copyright 2006 BANG Media International