A second couple have woken up to find their hedge dug up and stolen just 30 miles from the first incident of shrub theft.

Peter and Julie Vine, of Wrotham in Kent, spent £1,300 on a line of 127 shrubs to blot out road noise - but overnight all of their beloved trees were stolen.

Meanwhile over the weekend pensioners Anthony and Daphne Hawley, who live just 30 miles away in Copthorne, West Sussex, woke to find their hedge of 25 laurels worth £750 had also been snatched.

Peter and Julie Vine, of Wrotham in Kent, spent £1,300 on a line of 127 shrubs to blot out road noise - but overnight all of their beloved trees were stolen

A second couple have woken up to find their hedge dug up and stolen by midnight shrub-robbers just 30 miles from the first incident

The two raids have raised fears that a shrubbery gang is roaming the south of England at night, looking for suitable hedges to steal from front gardens.

Mr and Mrs Vine had enjoyed a few months of quiet after planting the shrub screen to blot out traffic noise.

But today they told how they woke to that familiar roar of traffic after thieves sneaked into the garden under the cover of darkness and stolen the lot.

'To do a theft like that on a main road is just bizarre' said Mr Vine, 57, as he and wife Julie, 52, surveyed their barren garden.

'We are right on the border of the A227 and I just cannot believe it - for someone to take 127 trees takes time.

Anthony and Daphne Hawley have been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket, after thieves made off with the entire laurel hedge from their front garden - about 25 bushes all around 6ft tall (pictured after the theft)

The couple, from Copthorne, West Sussex, woke up one morning to find that their neatly-pruned hedge had been stolen while they slept

'You've got to pull them out, load them onto the back of something, and I have to ask what is the point of doing something like that.

'At three foot high they cost me about £1,300, and they were planted in May, so they've been there for some time.

'We planted them as a screen to stop the noise of the traffic, which can be really loud at times.'

Neighbours reported hearing people talking outside at around 2.30am. A Kent Police spokesman said 'Inquiries into this are ongoing.'

Over in Copthorne, the Hawleys are still bemused by the theft of their 30ft-long hedge.

Echoing Mr Vine's thoughts, Mr Hawley, 75, said: 'I can't believe someone would go to the trouble of stealing an entire hedge.

Mr Hawley, 75, said he was completely stunned to find that someone would go to the trouble of stealing an entire hedge

'We live on a private estate and they were planted about two years ago and were about six foot high.

'We woke up and everything had just been taken during the night.

'We never heard anything and when we checked our CCTV cameras they didn't show anything either.

'You can see quite clearly where they have been dug up and you can also see tyre tracks on the road outside. Whoever did it knew what they were doing.

'I had noticed about a week ago that one of the laurels was looking really loose in the ground, but I didn't think anything of it.

'Whoever it was they must have needed a large truck, because 25 laurels certainly aren't small things. They probably cost about £25 each and now we are looking at needing to pay £750 to replace them.'

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said: 'We are investigating the incident.'

He said: 'They have only been planted for two years and they were about six foot high'