The novelist owns a large mansion in the city, and snapped up the house next door to bulldoze it and extend the garden. She previously faced protests from other residents over plans to construct treehouses in her back yard, and now she is embroiled in a new dispute with them over the trimming of the towering leylandii tree hedges which surround the house.

The massive trees have to be cut back using an elevated work platform which has been blocking the road outside the house and causing traffic chaos, prompting complaints from several neighbours.

Pictures show traffic backed up along the surrounding roads due to the temporary traffic lights which have been installed while the work is carried out, and one local resident tells British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, "The hedges are obviously to stop people looking into her property. It's just taking ages. It's chaos around there. The lights are taking too long to change, especially on the side roads.There are long queues tailing back."