Overview

• Brighton and Hove City Council has formally apologised after confirming a street cleansing operative mistakenly removed private ivy from Andrew Wheatley’s home.
• On June 25, the worker cut the ivy’s main stem, which had clung to the house since at least 2009, causing the entire plant to die.
• Council officials said the team was following a weed management request and misidentified the private creeper as overgrowth.
• Mr Wheatley described the unauthorised trimming as criminal damage and lamented the loss of bees and snails that nested in the ivy.
• The case has highlighted gaps in verification and homeowner notification procedures in routine municipal maintenance.