UK: Garden wars in suburbia

Couple branded ‘The Glums’ who have a perfectly manicured garden are accused of ‘waging vendetta’ against next door neighbours for feeding seagulls and foxes in their re-wilded paradise

By Chris Brooke
Daily Mail
Apr 1, 2024

Excerpt:

A couple threatened with prosecution by council officers for feeding birds in their re-wilded garden have blamed next-door neighbours dubbed ‘the Glums’ for waging a ’27-year vendetta’ against them.

Stephen Atkinson-Jones, 71, and his wife Caroline, 64, say they love wildlife and have let trees and shrubs grow freely to enhance nature in what they call ‘studied neglect’.

But in stark contrast next door, Keith Edwards, 77, and his wife Pauline have a beautifully manicured suburban front garden – with symmetrical styled hedges, mini ornamental trees and flowers.

Mr Atkinson-Jones has said it was Mr and Mrs Edwards who complained to a local council about the daily bird feeding routine that was attracting seagulls – widely condemned as ‘flying rats’ in seaside towns because of the nuisance they cause.

For more than 20 years he and his wife have thrown pieces of dog biscuits into the courtyard at 8am to feed gulls and about 10 of them swoop down to gratefully pick up their breakfast before flying off again.

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