Tree work in Wigston
Wigston Magna’s older streets off Bull Head Street and Long Street carry a lot of mature garden trees planted when the Victorian and Edwardian housing went up — sycamore, lime and horse chestnut that are now well past the size the plots were designed for. The common job here is a crown reduction to get light back into a narrow rear garden without losing the tree.
The inter-war and post-war estates towards Wigston Fields and Little Hill tend to have the opposite problem: leylandii and cypress boundary hedges planted in the seventies and eighties that are now four or five metres and taking the whole afternoon off someone’s garden.
Access along the older terraced rows is tight, so most of our LE18 work is sectional dismantling with the timber carried out through the house or over the boundary — and our narrow-access stump grinder goes through a standard 760mm side gate.
The ground is heavy Lias clay across most of the borough. That matters more than people expect: clay shrinkage during a dry summer is the mechanism behind most subsidence claims involving trees, and it drives which species should be near a foundation and which should not.
Protected trees in Wigston
Wigston falls under Oadby & Wigston Borough Council for tree protection. Before any work we check two things for your address: whether the tree carries a Tree Preservation Order, and whether it sits inside a conservation area.
If it has a TPO, works need a written application and the council has eight weeks to determine it. If it is in a conservation area, you must give six weeks' written notice under section 211 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for any tree over 75mm diameter measured at 1.5m — even with no TPO on it. Doing the work without either is a criminal offence, and for the most serious cases the fine in the Crown Court is unlimited.
Dead trees and trees posing an urgent safety risk are exempt, but the exemption is narrow: five working days' written notice is still required unless the danger is immediate, and the burden of proving the tree qualified sits with you. Where a Wigston job is anywhere near that line, we photograph and document the defect before starting. We prepare and submit the paperwork to Oadby & Wigston Borough Council as part of the job — there is no extra charge for it.
Emergency call-outs in Wigston
We are based here, so Wigston gets the fastest response we offer — typically well inside 45 minutes, and often under 30. The line is answered by a person 24 hours a day. Send two photos — one wide, one close to the failure point — and we can usually give you a fixed price before the truck moves.
If a tree is on a power line, call 105 first: your distribution network operator attends free and makes the conductor safe. If it is blocking a public road or anyone is at risk, call 999 first. Then call us.
Local landmarks and access
We know Wigston — Peace Memorial Park, Wigston Magna, South Wigston, Wigston Fields and the Grand Union Canal at Kilby Bridge. That matters more than it sounds: knowing which streets a chipper can park on and which need timber carrying out by hand is the difference between an accurate quote and a price that changes on the day.
Trees on the public highway, in parks and on other council land are Oadby & Wigston Borough Council's responsibility, not the adjacent householder's. If that is what you are looking at, report it to them and they will attend at no cost to you — we will point you to the right team rather than quote you for something you should not be paying for.