Ampthill Man Awarded Local Hero Honour After Sending Council 247 Letters About a Hedge

A retired schoolteacher from Ampthill has been awarded the inaugural Central Bedfordshire Council Committed Community Correspondent commendation after writing 247 letters, 89 emails, and making 34 documented phone calls to the authority about a hedge that encroaches, he says, "at least four inches" over his garden boundary.

Geoffrey Trimble, 71, first contacted the council in March 2018 after noticing that a privet hedge maintained by his neighbour, Mrs Patricia Holloway, 74, appeared to have extended slightly beyond the fence line separating their gardens on a residential street near Ampthill Park.

"It was four inches then," said Mr Trimble. "It could be four and a half now. The council's own measurements, which took them three years to carry out, suggested it was three and three-quarter inches, but I believe their measuring tape may have been improperly zeroed."

Over eight years, Mr Trimble's correspondence has been handled by fourteen different council officers, three of whom have since retired, one of whom has moved to a different local authority, and two of whom he refers to, in his letters, by nicknames. His files, stored in six ring binders, include photocopied letters, annotated council responses, two Freedom of Information requests, and a hand-drawn diagram of the hedge that he describes as "scale, approximately."

The council's most recent letter, dated April 2026, confirmed that the matter had been reviewed by the relevant team and that the hedge "did not meet the threshold for formal enforcement action under the High Hedges provisions of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003." It invited Mr Trimble to consider mediation.

He declined. He was on letter 246 at the time.

The commendation — presented by Councillor Janet Featherstone-Cox at last month's Civic Pride Ceremony — was described in the citation as recognising "exceptional and sustained community engagement with local democratic processes." It is the first time the award has been given, having been created specifically for Mr Trimble after three council officers independently submitted his file for recognition.

"We felt it was important to acknowledge Geoffrey's commitment," said Councillor Featherstone-Cox. "Very few residents engage with the council with this level of persistence and attention to detail. In many ways, he represents the kind of active civic participation we want to encourage."

Mr Trimble, who attended the ceremony wearing a jacket he described as "hedge green, deliberately," said he was touched by the honour but that it would not deter him. "I have accepted the award," he confirmed, "on the understanding that it does not constitute acceptance of the council's position on the hedge."

He has since sent a letter of thanks. And a follow-up letter clarifying two points in the letter of thanks. Both have been acknowledged.

Mrs Holloway, asked for comment, said the hedge was "a perfectly normal hedge" and that she had been trimming it every spring for forty years. She noted that she and Mr Trimble still exchanged pleasantries over the fence — or at least, over the part of it not obscured by the hedge — and that she bore him no ill will.

"He's very thorough," she said. "I'll give him that."

The hedge, for its part, continues to grow at an estimated rate of six inches per year. A new letter is expected shortly.

All names, organisations, quotes and events in this article are fictitious and created for comedic purposes.