Homeowner landed with £116,000 bill after cutting down tree decade earlier

A homeowner was landed with a £116,000 bill after having a tree cut down in her back garden more than a decade earlier.

Claire Rands, who said she had no idea that she'd done anything wrong, ended up before a judge and was slapped with the huge bill. Rands, who lives outside of Newport, south Wales, had the 100-year-old lime tree chopped down in her back garden.

But she fell foul of the law because the historic tree was subject to a tree preservation order, which prohibited it being cut down. After appearing in court, she was ordered to pay a £16,000 fine and £100,000 in prosecution costs, Wales Online reports .

Rands had a tree surgeon come to the house she shared with her husband Damon Rands and their four children. The tree surgeon the Rands instructed, she said, chopped the tree d