A hedge which divides battling neighbours could be chopped down to size under new legislation to curb antisocial behaviour.

The Anti-Social Behaviour Act has more commonly been used to tackle young yobs and neighbours who have made others lives a misery.

But new powers introduced under the act in June (2005) mean local authorities can now resolve neighbour disputes by giving the offending hedge the axe.

Worthing Borough Council could use them to solve a row over the height of a hedge of Leyland Cypress trees.

Neighbours in St George's and Gannon Roads, Worthing, have complained they are depressed and frustrated by the hedge, which measures between three and five metres tall, because it blocks out sunlight.

But landowner Bernard Sayer, of St George's Road, says the plants protect his privacy.

Attempts to resolve the dispute have all failed and now Worthing Borough Council is involved.

The council has recommended it be cut down to 2.5 metres.

Mr Sayer, 61, planted the hedge around his garden because he lives in a bungalow surrounded by houses and wanted to give himself some privacy.

But Joan Lepianka, 73, who lives with husband Julian, 78, said the hedge had blocked sunlight from their home and garden for about four years and had caused relations with her next-door neighbour to sour.

She wants the hedge chopped down to two metres.

She said: "It's extremely depressing and I don't even look out of the window anymore.

"Now we get no sunlight in our garden. Nothing has grown this year and it's getting worse because the trees keep growing.

"I don't understand why he would want something so high - at two metres, he could still have his privacy.

"He has offered to cut them by a foot a year but they grow three feet a year."

Planning councillors were expected to vote on the recommendation at a committee meeting last Tuesday but decided to defer the decision so they could get more video information.

Mr Sayer told The Argus he had offered to cut the hedge down to three metres as a compromise.

He said he had explained to the council he could only cut it down during the winter because of nesting birds during the warmer months.

He said: "If I cut them down by more, they will be able to see in my bedrooms and I'm entitled to my privacy.

"Three metres literally stops all the houses at the end of the roads looking down into my place."

Under the act's new legislation, people can follow guidelines outlined by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to help them resolve problems over hedges without any outside intervention.

The council can be contacted to offer advice but should only get involved with determining the size of a hedge should all other attempts by neighbours to resolve the problem prove ineffective.

Councils can order homeowners to cut offending hedges down to 2m. If they refuse, they face a fine of up to £1,000. If they still hold out, they could end up paying £200 a day in fines until they cut down the trees.