A PENSIONER who has protested that trees are keeping her in the dark should see the light soon, Bolton Council has promised.

Elsie Derbyshire has been campaigning for years for trees on council-owned land behind her Tonge Fold bungalow to be cut back.

The 13 ash and cherry trees were planted in a small copse behind Mrs Derbyshire's home in Skipton Street 20 years ago.

But Mrs Derbyshire, aged 64, says that for the last 12 years they have grown so big that they overshadow her garden, blocking out light to her house.

She claims pleas to the council to deal with the problem have been ignored.

"Four years ago I had to get my own tree surgeon in because one of the branches was nearly at my back door," she said.

"The back of our gardens are south-facing and should be sunny, but we are in darkness during the summer." Cllr Nick Peel has taken up Mrs Derbyshire's case and is hoping the tree nearest her house can be removed.

But he acknowledged that there was a large backlog of pruning to be done in Bolton.

A spokesman for Bolton Council said pruning the trees at the rear of Mrs Derbyshire's house will be done before Christmas.

"It is being done as part of a programme of work that we undertake on estates," he said.