The two chestnuts and five ash trees in Anglesey Avenue are causing damage to a driveway.

The work, funded by Hailsham Town Council, will see a root barrier put in and crowns reduced by 40 per cent.

Jim Pickett, who lives in one of the affected houses, said, "It has caused us a lot of aggro. Our drive has been excavated three times to get at the roots.

"I think they are also under the house as well so what would have happened in a dry summer I don't know."

Mr Pickett added the roots had created havoc with his home's plumbing while the trees' height has left an upstairs bathroom in total darkness.

He said, "I have got to have the light on in the upstairs bathroom all day long.

"I can reach out of the windows and pick conkers.

"If the crowns are not reduced the trees can grow up to 70 to 80 feet high. They are already taller than the house."

But the trees can not be simply cut down as there are fears it could cause 'ground heave' — where a build up of water causes the earth to swell which could damage the houses further.

Mr Pickett said, "The trees take 250 to 300 gallons of water from the ground every day.

"If you cut the tree down all that water in the earth has no way of escaping."

Cllr Nick Ellwood said this underlined why the work needed to be carried out urgently.

He told the Gazette, "The crowns need reducing and a root barrier will be put in.

"This is where you dig a trench of eight or nine inches next to the wall of one of the houses, prune the roots and put in a barrier.

"Then when the roots regrow they hit the barrier and it keeps them away from the property.

"Reducing the crowns will also improve things for the residents and give them more light."