A woman has blasted Winchester City Council after being ordered to remove flower pots and a wind chime from her own front garden.
Lynda Vincent, 67, from the Hampshire city, decorated her garden with plant pots, animal ornaments and a wind chime.
The display led neighbours to compliment Vincent for looking after the space.
She brightened up the space with seahorses on the walls, statues of meerkats and by scattering marbles around.
A stock image of flower pots
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The 67-year-old claimed she received “nothing but hassle” from the Winchester City Council in the two years she lived in her flat.
Vicent felt “victimised” by the council as she claimed other gardens have 15 plant pots and as far as she knows she is the only one to be issued notices.
She said: “This biased treatment has disturbed any therapeutic use and has damaged tenants, friends, family and children's recreational use of the communal area here.
“I have had nothing but hassle since moving in.
“Nobody looked after the garden before I moved in, I keep it clean and most of the neighbours have commented on how they enjoy the improvements I have made.
“I'm an outdoors person and it's nice because I can unwind in the communal area but I can't now.
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A stock image of wind chimes
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“Other people across the district have like 15 plant pots, so why me?
“They said I had to get rid of everything, right down to the wind chime. I'm being victimised.”
Vincent said the council told her to remove the items from the garden in August after she placed a water butt there.
The debate has split local residents on social media.
One said: “Rules are there for a reason, the council should have returned her inconsideration in kind and just dumped the lot in a skip without warning.
“If she wants her own garden get a house.”
Winchester City Council
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But another wrote: “Probably one person moaning about it.
“Have the council not got more pressing matters to attend to than a resident's bit of idyll in a world of trouble and torment? Absolutely bonkers.”
A Winchester City Council spokesman said: “In communal properties with shared gardens, we do try and ensure that the garden areas remain available to everyone and anyone who wants to use them so no single property has greater use of the space than others.
“In this case, the flats' shared garden is very small and we want to ensure that it is accessible to all.
“For the reason of fairness, stored items or structures need prior permission, as is the case for any shared garden.
“We do exercise discretion and it is dependent on the space available so that any addition is not disproportionate to the space or could limit safe and inclusive access for other residents.
“We're currently looking into making some improvements to the gardens to encourage all residents to use them and we'll work with everyone living there to make the most out of the outside space for all to enjoy.”
