RESIDENTS want trees which they say are plunging their gardens into darkness chopped down.

Neighbours in Deane Avenue, Deane, say they struggle to enjoy the summer months because sycamore, ash and lime trees in Haslam Park are planted too close to their back walls and block the afternoon sunlight.

Jean Bond, who has lived there for 20 years, and said: "It's an impossible situation and it's just getting worse. The trees are in the wrong place."

Over the years, large branches have snapped off the trees and straddled her garage.

And Miss Bond believes that diseased roots from the trees are growing under her garden and killing off other plants and flowers.

A council spokesman said "The trees have been there for many years. We have been contacted by residents in the past and been out to assess saplings at the end of gardens." The trees will be assessed again in the winter, she added.