Sir.-Have any other readers noticed what a terrible mess has been made of cutting hedgerows recently?

I refer in particular to the central hedging along the Thornycroft/Winchester Road dual carriageway.

In my opinion, it hasn't been cut - it's been hacked.

Also, the most "mutilated" hedge I have seen this year is on the A340 Basingstoke-Tadley road, near Pamber Green.

If our grandfathers were alive, they would weep at the state that this hedge has been left in.

Hedges are living things and care should be taken to cut them back properly, not just hack away at them with what must have been the bluntest piece of equipment they had.

Sadly, it would appear those who were contracted to do this job have lost all pride in their work, and that is a real shame.

-Julia Bone, Maple Grove, Tadley.