A man has described a council as "incompetent" after workers cut a hazardous tree in the wrong place, just a week after being told no action was needed.

John Hayes complains every year about a tree in Gateshead Road at the junction of Bennington Drive in Borehamwood.

He believes the overgrown tree is likely to cause a crash for drivers pulling out into Gateshead Road.

Mr Hayes' daughter lives in Bennington Drive, and he says it is a struggle to turn right out of the road because its impossible to see past the tree and leaves him feeling "vulnerable".

Borehamwood Times:

Normally, the tree gets cut but on this occasion, Hertfordshire County Council decided the tree required "no action".

But following the complaint which was dealt with initially on May 22, the council did a u-turn and workers trimmed the tree...in the wrong place.

"It's the lower foliage which requires cutting back, not the edge because right now you can't see through it," Mr Hayes said.

It turned out that a worker had trimmed the side of the tree that was beginning to reach out into the road, but was not causing any visibility issues.

Mr Hayes added: "It's so bad, it could cause an accident. There was a police chase only the other week and you wouldn't have seen it if you were trying to get out. I was surprised that the council said they didn't see a problem when they said it came to inspect. This is a blackspot.

"Now that I have found out the tree has been cut it the wrong place, well its laughable really and I'd describe it as incompetent."

Borehamwood Times:

Ringway, who work on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council, have not confirmed whether they will return to cut the tree where Mr Hayes believes they should.

Kevin Carrol, Ringway divisional manager, said: “We received a report about an overgrown tree on Gateshead Road at 11.20am on May 29. Ringway staff visited the site yesterday (May 30) at 8.10am to cut the tree back to prevent it obscuring the view of the junction.”