A council flat resident has blasted local authority officials after she was ordered to remove her plant pots and other garden ornaments.
Lynda Vincent, 67, from Winchester in Hampshire, received high praise from her neighbours for her careful decoration of a communal garden.
She had arranged a set of plant pots alongside animal garden ornaments and a wind chime and kept the space clean since.
Ms Vincent said she was the first resident to care about the garden and that fellow residents were pleased with the result.
But she has experienced “nothing but hassle” from the “biased” local council, which has told her to “get rid of everything”.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Ms Vincent said she tried to brighten the space by mounting seahorses on the walls and placing statues of meerkats and chickens in stoned areas.
She also scattered colourful marbles and seashells around the area, something with which Westminster City Council has seemingly taken issue.
The council flat resident claimed she was being “victimised” and has received “biased treatment” from officials, who have “disturbed any therapeutic use” of the garden.
She added the council had also “damaged tenants, friends, family and children’s recreational use” by clamping down on her.
Ms Vincent questioned: “Other people across the district have like 15 plant pots, so why me?
“They said I had to get rid of everything, right down to the wind chime. I’m being victimised.”
A spokesman for Winchester City Council said communal properties with shared gardens must “remain available to everyone and anyone who wants to use them”.
They said the authority had to ensure that no single property had greater use of a shared space than others.
The spokesman added that, in this space, the garden is “very small”, and they wanted to “ensure that it is accessible to all”.
They said: “For the reason of fairness, stored items or structures need prior permission, as is the case for any shared garden.
“We do exercise discretion, and it is dependent on the space available so that any addition is not disproportionate to the space or could limit safe and inclusive access for other residents.
“We’re currently looking into making some improvements to the gardens to encourage all residents to use them and we’ll work with everyone living there to make the most out of the outside space for all to enjoy.”
