JK Rowling hits back over giant leylandii row: Harry Potter author says work to trim hedge outside Edinburgh home takes place every year - amid backlash over traffic chaos on school run

A road closure to allow a hedge trimming at JK Rowling's home angered localsParents claim their children were late for school due to the rush hour repairsHave YOU been affected? Email [email protected]

JK Rowling today hit back after she was blasted for trimming her giant leylandii outside her Edinburgh home.

The Harry Potter author is at the centre of a traffic row after furious parents complained that works to trim the hedge outside her house sparked chaos during the morning commute.

The traffic lights installed outside of her £2.2million house caused traffic to pile up during the school-run.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline today, Ms Rowling’s representatives insisted that the hedge-trimming happened every year and that the traffic lights are necessary for safety.

A spokesperson said: ‘The hedge cutting at JK Rowling’s residence is annual maintenance that involves necessary traffic management for the safety of the general public.

‘The intention is always to carry out the work with least disruption and the timing requires co-ordination and agreement with Edinburgh City Council. The work would ideally be scheduled in July, during the summer holidays, but due to other maintenance work in the area, it was agreed to take place this week instead.’

Photos show sections of the road shut while workers use a cherry-picker to hack back the leylandii.

The maintenance works, carried out from 7.30am to 3.30pm, are said to have hit the school run

JK Rowling has received the ire of neighbours after gardening works to her Edinburgh home

Sections of the road will be closed while workers use a cherry-picker from 7.30am to 3.30pm

The traffic chaos caused by the works to the giant leylandii hedge

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The works – which are taking place between 7.30am and 3.30pm for most of the week – have sparked fury among parents who have complained it is causing them to be late dropping off their children.

One outraged parent said: ‘Why can’t they do it in the February breaks? They have hours through the day when the roads are quiet.

‘No-one else gets the street shut down to cut their hedge.’

A mother said: ‘To cause traffic to come to a standstill at rush hour to cut a hedge doesn’t make sense. [It has resulted] in my child and many others being late.

‘I can’t understand why the hedge can’t be done at the weekend or at less busy times like 9.30am until 2.30pm.’

Planning applications made by the writer to the facade of her home have angered neighbours several times.

In 2011, she received permission to pull down the 1970s property next door, bought for £1million, to allow a garden extension. Heritage watchdog The Cockburn Association queried the loss of a ‘perfectly adequate and functional’ home but did not lodge a formal objection.

The following year, Rowling was given permission to to build two luxury tree houses in the garden of her home despite protests from local residents.

Locals had raised concerns that the large size of the tree houses meant they could be seen from the roadside and said they would blight the appearance of the surrounding conservation area.

The traffic chaos on the street outside the Harry Potter author’s house

The works have sparked fury among parents who have complained it is causing them to be late dropping off their children

The workers have been using a cherry picker to trim the hedge

Photos obtained by MailOnline show how the traffic piled up this morning

Huge tailbacks stretch along the road outside the author’s house as the works block the roads

The trimming, which occurs roughly every three years, has led to temporary four-way traffic lights outside the author’s house an the affluent suburb

One parent said: ‘Why can’t they do it in the February breaks? They have hours through the day when the roads are quiet’

A woman walks her dog past the road works

The writer had applied to have the massive structures, estimated to cost £250,000, erected as part of a programme of renovations at her house.

They are intended to be used by her two younger children, who each got their own two-storey house. They are each almost 40ft high and feature secret tunnels and bay windows.

Rowling’s Harry Potter series has sold over 500 million books worldwide, turning her into one of a select few billionaire authors.

She has faced a backlash from transgender activists in recent years due to her outspoken defence of women-only spaces and staunch belief in biological sex.

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