Not all heroes wear capes, some wield a petrol head strimmer.
Not all heroes wear capes, some wield a petrol head strimmer.
A Dorset tree surgeon has been hailed a hero after trimming back a ‘jungle’ of overgrown tree foliage.
The problem had got so bad that locals had to walk in the road to avoid a ‘face full of leaves and insects’ by walking through the jungle-like greenery.
Several dramatic pictures of Belinda Preest and her dog wading through the undergrowth had led to desperate calls for action.
Tree surgeon Jamie Rudge has now come to the rescue of Belinda and other path-walking locals in Swanage.
The 30-year-old volunteered his time at the end of his working day to strim the sprawling vegetation that had blocked the pavement.
Despite asking Dorset Council to cut back the mass of overgrowth from lime trees nothing had been done to clear the path.
So Jamie, who runs JSR Tree Care & Garden Maintenance, stepped in to do the job.
He said he checked with the local authority to make sure none of the lime trees on Burlington Road had tree preservation orders on before getting his petrol head strimmer out.
Jamie said: ‘I live nearby and was aware it was causing annoyance to a lot of people. A lot of people who live on the road are elderly so probably couldn’t get out and do it themselves.
‘And had someone been hit by a car from walking in the road when I could have done something about would have played on my conscience.
‘It took me about 30 minutes with my petrol head strimmer to clear the path and allow pedestrians access.
‘I took all the trimmings to the commercial waste skipyard afterwards.’
Locals have taken to social media to praise Jamie under a Facebook post called ‘not all heroes wear capes’.
A spokesperson for Dorset Council said: ‘We manage over 200,000 trees in the Dorset Council area, of which around 50,000 are limes that have all been growing excessively recently.
‘As soon as we were made aware of the situation at Burlington Road, we visited the area and felled one tree that was an immediate danger.
‘Our small team, who are dealing with the issues as quickly as possible around the county, will return to Burlington Street early next week to cut back and remove branches.’
The council has been asked to comment about Jamie’s work.
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