Ten bushes ripped out of garden

Maureen and Peter Linksey told the Observer their reaction to the "absolute devastation" caused to their property on the corner of Magdalen Road and Manor Road.

"It is unbelievable", said Maureen.

"We came out in the morning and found somebody had come along and actually ripped out all these trees.

"What person in their right mind does such a thing? I can't believe the mentality of someone who could do this. To me it is just appalling."

Peter thinks the trees - planted three years ago and now worth 30 each - were pulled up one by one, taken round the corner to Jameson Road and transported away by lorry.

"Someone has taken them for a private job," he believes.