Hedge trimming is a tall order

The sum of £5,000 may seem a tad on the expensive side if you are having someone trim your hedges.

But thats how much it cost to trim the UKs tallest yew hedge – belonging to Lord Apsley.

The 47-year-old son of the Earl of Bathursts 40 ft hedge took two workers two days to trim using a cherry picker, according to The Times.

"You can actually see it from the town as its taller than the wall," Lord Apsley told the paper.

"Its difficult to know exactly how old it is, but we think it was planted in about 1710."

The tonne of clippings from the 300-year-old hedge will now be used as part of a cancer drug.

Drug companies will extract the key ingredient of docetaxel, a drug used in ovarian, breast and lung cancer treatment, the newspaper reports.

The hedge runs around the front of the Lords mansion near Cirencester and any keen gardeners looking to catch a glimpse will be interested to know that it is some way short of the worlds largest hedge, which measures 120 ft and is located in Perthshire.