A SIGHT-impaired Cradley Heath widow fears she could be badly hurt by tripping over slabs in her garden which are being pushed up by roots of 60ft high trees along her boundary.

Ursula Edwards, aged 73, has already had to have roof slates on her bungalow replaced due to damage caused by an overhanging sycamore branch.

And a historic garden wall, believed to have been built by the coal board in 1882, has been cracked by the encroaching roots.

She and a neighbour have been trying to persuade landowners, the Folkes Group, to lop the row of around 20 mature trees along the boundary of their bungalows in Rian Court, of Surfeit Hill Road, for a year.

The trees screen commercial premises, currently used for warehousing by a double glazing firm, and some householders in Surfeit Hill Road have objected to their pruning.

But Mrs Edwards, who is losing her sight due to macular degeneration, said the Rian Court residents wanted the removal of overhanging branches, some of which invade her gardens by around 25ft.

She said: “The land where the trees are slopes up so we can’t reach the branches, it needs a tree surgeon to climb up and cut them, but I don’t think Folkes want to pay for it.”

Mrs Edwards said a neighbour had had enough and put her bungalow up for sale, but she claimed another bungalow had failed to sell in 18 months because people were put off by the huge trees.

She added: “I like the trees and the wildlife they attract but when they start damaging property something has to be done. It’s not going to spoil them just to tidy them up.”

When she and her late husband moved to Rian Court eight years ago, Fowkes lopped 25ft off the top of the trees, but she said they were now bigger than ever and plans by the company to manage the trees had never happened.

Nobody from the Folkes Group was available for comment.