It’s one of the most bizarre warring neighbours arguments in UK history, which still regularly goes viral on social media: the case of the fir tree that got cut in half.
Two sets of neighours in a quiet suburban close who had lived happily next door to each other for years finally fell out in the strangest way – over the suggestion that a fir tree that had been there for 25 years had become a roost for noisy and dirty pigeons.
This was the launching point for the action that made the case famous: that lollipop-shaped conifer tree was brutally cut in half with chainsaws as its owners watched in disbelief.
The resulting furore was so seismic that it became discussed around the world and to this day inspires tourists to turn up to sleepy Brier Close in the Sheffield suburb of Waterthorpe to take selfies with the infamous half tree.
Now, for the first time, can reveal the full story of what really happened: how the tree came to be attacked so drastically – and how a fragile peace was finally achieved in Brier Close.
The two neighbours involved were the tree’s owners, Bharat Mistry, a 60 year old project manager and his wife Singita Asha, a supermarket administration manager – and next door to them an older retired couple, Graham and Irene Lee.
The Lees, both now 79, and the Mistrys had been friendly neighbours for around 25 years, frequently exchanging doorstep chats – and the younger couple’s children would play with the Lees’ grandchildren when they visited.
Harmony reigned between the neighbouring £225,000 detached houses.
But, during lockdown, which began five years ago this month, the relationship between the couples began to unravel.
And the cause was the then 25-year-old fir tree which was growing in the corner of the Mistrys’ front garden – but whose branches grew over the driveway where the Lee parked their smart SsangYong Korando car.
The Lees – particularly Mr Lee, it seems – began to become preoccupied with the pigeons he said were roosting in the 16-foot-tall tree’s branches. They were cooing too loudly, he claimed, and their droppings were landing on the bonnet of that SUV car.
In the months that followed relations between the previously friendly couples became frosty.
The Mistrys insist that they tried to be conciliatory: offering to cut the tree back further and even to drape plastic sacks along the branches to restrict the birds’ access.
But Mr Lee was bent on exercising his rights: to cut back the part of the tree that overhung his side of the boundary line between the properties.
And, in the spring of 2021, he hired tree surgeons to do just that.
Mr Mistry later explained: He said: ‘We pleaded and pleaded with them not to do it, but their mind was made up. That tree was coming down.
‘I believe he has the right to cut down anything that is overhanging onto his property. But you have to ask, why after 25 years would you do that?
‘He can get his car on and off the drive with no issues.
‘We had asked if we could get it trimmed back and put a net in it so it would stop birds getting in, but there was no compromise with them.’
The Lees’ were unrepentant however.
A defiant Irene Lee explained: ‘The tree was blocking our driveway. We had two thirds of it hanging over on our side…The neighbours may own the tree but if it overhangs on our property then we are legally allowed to trim it back.’
But unknown to either couple, events were about to make the tree and them famous.
Before and after photographs of the bizarrely pruned tree were emailed anonymously to Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 tv show in June 2021 – and they both showed the images on screen and shared them on their socials channels.
From there the image of the ‘half tree’ became an internet sensation which, four years on, continues to frequently resurface.
Just this week the image reappeared via the popular account No Context Brits where once again it received hundreds of thousands of views.
And it’s frequently looked up on Google Street View.
As one Brier Close resident told us this week: ‘The tree has become notorious – even my cousin living in has heard about it!’
So famous has it become that local resident and rambler David Hirst, who leads guided walks, frequently takes his fellow enthusiasts on diversions through Brier Close to see the famous tree.
David, a rambler with Step Out Sheffield, added: ‘I walk with a group of seniors on Mondays and if we get any new people walking I bring them round this way to show them the famous half tree.
‘It’s become a bit of an attraction. The Waterthorpe area has become a bit of a highlight!’
So what of the tree itself today?
When visited this week we found that it has regrown partially on the side that was pruned so hard – but not much.
As Mrs Mistry described it: ‘The exposed branches are growing some new leaves but it’s still a very odd shape.’
And the protagonists themselves – who continue to live just a few feet apart, with what remains of the tree between them, now seem somewhat embarrassed by the row that became famous.
And Mrs Mistry is reluctant to bring it all up again. Instead she is keen to stress that the tree pruning row episode is in the past: ‘We have come to live with it but not love it. We had no choice with its being cut in half.’
The mother-of-two added: ‘We can’t change what has happened so we have to make the best of it. We try not to let it bother us.
‘We maintain the tree which is in our front garden and just had it pruned two weeks ago. We are trying to keep the peace.’
So have relations with the Lees partially recovered as the tree has?
Mrs Mistry says: ‘We exchange pleasantries now and then but that is all. We get on with our business and they get on with theirs.
‘It’s a nice quiet neighbourhood to live in and the tree issue has been the only dispute for many years.’
She added: ‘We do still get the odd car coming down the road and you see people doing pictures at the tree!’
The Lees no longer wish to discuss what happened.
A relative of the couple who lives nearby explained: ‘We’ve forgotten about it. It’s all in the past and we want to leave it that way.’
And what do neighbours make of it all today?
It seems they are all united in wanting the fragile peace to continue.
A woman living in a bungalow right opposite the notorious conifer said: ‘I’m not so bothered it nowadays. I know both the residents, they have lived side by side for 30 years or so, and I’m friendly with both.
‘Locals don’t worry about it any more but it was a funny story at the time.’
Another resident nearby told : ‘The tree is slowly growing back, sort of – there are some leaves on the flat side but it still looks weird.
‘It was a catty thing of the next door neighbour to do and we all have our views. But we just want peace.’
Another resident contextualised the reason for discretion: ‘We can’t say anything for it or against it because we’d upset one or both neighbours.
But one was openly on the side of the Mistrys – but only when speaking anonymously.
She told us: It used to be a beautiful tree, shaped like a big lollipop and it’s a real shame it’s been chopped in half.
‘Trees are lovely to look at, particularly when in their full glory.
‘But ultimately it’s nothing to do with any of us, it’s a dispute between the two neighbours and I think it’s died down a bit now.’
Another resident said: ‘We’re not meant to take sides because both families have lived here for years and we don’t want to offend either.
‘But secretly we do.
‘Everyone around here knows about the conifer cut in half and it’s put our street on the map.’
Other neighbours tried to play down any dispute, with one saying: ‘It’s dead and buried now, like the tree should be!
Another joked: ‘We’re not allowed to talk about that tree. We’re a close knit community and we’ll get in trouble.’
And another said: ‘It’s a lovely neighbourhood. I can sympathise to a degree if pigeon poo was dropping on a car but I don’t want to get involved. We won’t say a bad word about either party.’