By LIZ HULL, NORTHERN CORRESPONDENT and IAN LEONARD
Published: 17:45 BST, 31 August 2026 | Updated: 18:59 BST, 31 August 2026
For five years residents whose homes backed onto a grotty, rubbish-strewn alleyway lovingly and painstakingly transformed it into a green and pleasant communal garden.
They cleared the fly-tipping, planted wild flowers, shrubs and fruit trees to grow apples and pears and even cultivated a mature grapevine with the aim of creating their own speciality wine.
Hedgehogs, bats and other wildlife soon made the garden their home, which was also used for neighbourhood get-togethers and children's parties.
So, imagine the residents' horror when, on Friday, they returned home from work to discover men in high-vis jackets had ripped up their beautiful green space without warning and obliterated all their hard work.
Local designer Tom Marrett, 37, who kickstarted the project in Levenshulme, Manchester, in 2021, said he was left 'speechless' when he went into the alleyway to put his bins out on Friday evening to find it had been destroyed.
In a post on Facebook he accused the workmen of being 'short-sighted and heavy-handed', saying: 'I was genuinely speechless to find that our alleyway garden had been completely flattened.
'We had hedgehogs, bats and countless other insects and birds using this space.
'This wasn't just a patch of weeds. It was an established little ecosystem as well as a genuinely valuable green space for the people living around it.
'This feels like an absolute act of vandalism, (it's) short-sighted, heavy-handed and completely lacking in respect for the people and wildlife affected.'
The community garden in an alleyway in Levenshulme, Manchester, was ripped up and destroyed by workmen with strimmers on Friday
Residents and local councillors were not warned that any work would be taking place
Parts of the alleyway garden had been left untouched but plants, including fruit trees and a grapevine, in a large 30m section were destroyed
Neighbours reported seeing workmen with strimmers removing plants on a 30m stretch of the alleyway on Friday, although it is still not clear exactly who they were working for or who instructed them to carry out the work.
