JK Rowling’s neighbours have hit out at work to trim the hedges at her Edinburgh home over claims it forced a road to close, making children late for school.
The Harry Potter novelist has had to have the road next to her home restricted while work is carried out on the towering hedges, reported the Times.
The work has led to alleged disruption outside her £.2.2m home, with temporary traffic lights being installed. Some parents have complained that it has disrupted their ability to do the school-run.
However, a spokesperson said the timing was agreed with Edinburgh City Council with the aim of creating the least possible amount of disruption.
One mother told the paper that traffic jams as a result of the work caused her five minute journey to take as long as half an hour.
She said: “To cause traffic to come to a standstill at rush hour to cut a hedge doesn’t make sense. [It has resulted] in my child and many others being late.
“I can’t understand why the work can’t be done at the weekend or [at less busy times] like 9.30am until 2.30pm. This happens a couple of times a year and is unreasonable.”
Another added: “Why can’t they do it in the February breaks? They have hours through the day when the roads are quiet. No one else gets the street shut down to cut their hedge.”
Other works at the 58-year-old’s home have previously angered neighbours in the upmarket suburb where she lives.
Planning applications made by the writer to the facade of her home have angered neighbours several times.
In 2011, she received permission to pull down the 1970s property next door, to allow a garden extension, which was criticised by heritage group, The Cockburn Association.
It said the move meant the loss of a “perfectly adequate and functional” home.
In 2012, Rowling was given permission to to build two luxury tree houses in the garden of her home despite protests from local residents in a £250,000 project.
A spokesperson for Rowling said: "The hedge cutting at J.K. Rowling’s residence is annual maintenance that involves necessary traffic management for the safety of the general public.
"The intention is always to carry out the work with least disruption and the timing requires co-ordination and agreement with Edinburgh City Council.
"The work would ideally be scheduled in July, during the summer holidays, but due to other maintenance work in the area, it was agreed to take place this week instead."
