LONGHAM resident Chris Dyke had the shock of his life when he woke up to find green-fingered thieves had stolen around 40 Leylandii trees from his garden.

Mr Dyke reckons a gang dug out the 7ft tall plants bordering his Ringwood Road property under the cover of darkness and hauled them over several fences and along a footpath to a trailer parked nearby.

A further 20 trees were left behind against a fence.

Mr Dyke, who is retired, said: "It is quite unbelievable what they did. They were among around 100 I planted earlier in the year.

"I couldn't believe it when I opened the curtains to find half my hedge had disappeared."

Mr Dyke, who has reported the theft to the police, added: "They will sell for around £35 a piece. To take that sort of number, someone must be having quite a bit of landscaping done.

"I would recognise them as some of them had some bark eaten off by the rabbits and I have painted black grease along the top foot of the canes which they also took."

First published: October 15