Sawston hedge chopping leaves 'devastation and horror'

A cyclist says she is devastated that a hedgerow teeming with wildlife has been severely cut back by a housing developer.

The 60m (200ft) stretch along Babraham Road in Sawston, Cambridgeshire, has been trimmed almost to ground level.

A video of it posted on social media by Esther Musgrove-Brown was viewed more than a million times in just a few days.

She said: "It's a mixture of devastation and horror, really. It really was a habitat for birds."

Developer Redrow said the chopping was carried out for road safety reasons and it consulted with local authorities and an ecologist.

"We have worked hard to ensure an overall enhancement in habitats for birds and wildlife on the development," a spokesperson said.