A Kent council has suspended all hedge trimming and launched an investigation after metres of hedgerow were decimated, with residents claiming bird nests were disturbed and animals killed.

The local campaign group, Thanet Trees, has posted pictures of what it claims are disturbed hedges from the nest site.

It is against the law to knowingly disturb an active nest or otherwise harm wildlife.

More than 150 campaigners gathered to protest the hedge cutting, which saw gardeners hack back the huge hedge almost down to the roots.

Amelia Gregory, from the Thanet Trees campaign group, said: "It was a disastrous decision to flail these bushes with a completely inappropriate industrial machine, without due checks for nesting birds.

"They've lain waste to elderly ornamental hedging that may never recover, and leaving a huge bird population homeless."