Overview

• A legal demand sent to Richard and Melanie Gray seeks either removal of the Four Shire Tree or installation of a root barrier costing £69,768.88 plus VAT, with plans to recover the cost from them.
• The homeowners say they will neither pay the bill nor take down the sycamore, calling the proposal unnecessary and harmful.
• Causation is disputed, with the Grays pointing to a January 2023 engineering view they say did not blame the tree and to a mains failure that reportedly leaked around 13,000 gallons a day for three days.
• The roughly 250-year-old sycamore stands about 15 metres from both the Grays’ home and the newer vicarage beside Grade I-listed St George’s Church in Lower Brailes and is regarded locally as a landmark.
• Clyde & Co, acting for the diocese’s insurers, says its work has been professional and fair, and no court order or enforcement action has been reported.