A group of neighbours left in the dark by the towering trees next door have taken their fight to the Scottish Government.
Residents of Park Drive in Stonehaven claim their homes have been overshadowed by the trees at care home Mowat Court.
They applied to Aberdeenshire Council under the High Hedges (Scotland) Act 2013, with officers recently issuing the care home operator with an order to fell a row of spruce trees by March.
Council officers said the trees have been allowed to overgrow over several decades and have left homeowners without sunlight.
More than 100 trees, a mix of pine, spruce, sycamore, birch, beech and oak, above 80ft grow on the land at Mowat Court.
But the Park Drive residents want more to be done.
They claim removing just the one row of trees would do little to improve their living conditions.
Gordon Lamont, who lives on the street with wife Fiona, said: “We believe they are only cutting three trees, which will make minimal impact whatsoever, so we are going to appeal the decision.
“Quite a few people in the street have written letters supporting the appeal.”
He added that the trees should be trimmed back to roughly 16ft in height so that there are gaps in between the woodlands “to give suitable sunlight”.
A council spokesman said: “The council has decided that the hedge in question both constitutes a high hedge for the purposes of the act and adversely affects the enjoyment of the domestic property which an occupant of that property could reasonably expect.”