A PENSIONER has received an apology after contractors working for BT dumped garden waste on his property.

The phone company has since sent a worker out to clear up the mess and is taking the matter up with the contractors responsible.

David Ibbs was livid when he discovered branches lopped off a tree at a house around the corner in Darby Way, Bishops Lydeard, thrown over his hedge.

“They’d put up a pole in the garden of a home at the bottom of the estate,” said Mr Ibbs.

“To do so, they needed to cut down a number of large branches from a shrub, which they did with the owner’s permission.

“When they’d finished, they said they’d take the branches away, but it looks like they simply dragged them 100 metres round the corner and threw them into my garden.”

Mr Ibbs said he was “passed from pillar to post” when he contacted BT while the police and Taunton Deane Council said it was a private matter and they could not get involved.

After the County Gazette called BT on Monday, the company sent round a member of staff to clear the branches away.

“Big companies like BT hate negative publicity but they did nothing about the problem until after I’d spoken to the Gazette,” said Mr Ibbs.

BT spokesman Jason Mann said: “We’re sorry for the inconvenience caused to Mr Ibbs.

“On Monday we sent an engineer to remove the offending items.

“We’re taking the matter up with the contractors who carried out the poling work for us.”