Good fences make good neighbours

in removing it we have caused one section of his hedging to sag towards his garden.

You damaged his hedge and are asking, with a straight face, if you are liable to have it fixed? What sort of an answer are you expecting here?

Ask yourself, if he had removed his hedge and made a balls of your one so it was falling into your garden, would you expect him to make it right?

If the shrub had died of it's own accord and caused his hedge to sag, would you be liable to repair the hedge on his side? I would think not.

He should have cut back your shrub when it started growing into his hedge.

What remedy is your neighbour suggesting at this point ?

If it's agreeable to you and not overly expensive it might be worth considering in order to maintain goodwill.

The OP would always have had responsibility for any impact of a shrub/ tree originating in their own property.

If for example, a tree fell into a neighbouring property, the owner of the property in which the tree originated would be responsible for any consequential damage.

The same principle applies to the OP’s shrub.

His obligation is to ensure that his tree/shrubs don’t have the potential to cause damage. By allowing them to grow into a neighbouring property, he’s somewhat exposed in this regard.

Similarly, you are responsible for the impact of any growth originating from your property. You were wise to remove any overgrowth into other properties but if you’ve caused any damage or harm in doing so and if the neighbour insists that you make good the impact, you probably should.

Is a leaning shrub "an issue" though?

The cause of the issue was the neighbour not maintaining their hedge so that it grew on its own terms and didnt rely on the OPs shrub. OP is free to remove things growing on their own property so long as they dont damage anything that is not their in the process. The hedge is not damaged.

Is a leaning shrub "an issue" though?

Yes. A hedge (not a shrub) sagging into a garden where once it stood straight is most definitely an issue. Not only is it unsightly, it makes the neighbour's garden smaller and could have a potential H&S impact if it's full of thorns or brambles etc.

The cause of the issue was the neighbour not maintaining their hedge so that it grew on its own terms and didnt rely on the OPs shrub.

Absolute poppycock. The cause of the issue was OP removing their shrub. If that didn't happen, there'd be no issue now.

OP is free to remove things growing on their own property so long as they dont damage anything that is not their in the process. The hedge is not damaged.

I disagree with this completely. The structural support of the hedge has been compromised by the OP's actions, nobody else. She caused the damage, it is hers to repair. Put yourself in the neighbour's shoes for a minute. If you came home from work and your once perfectly straight hedge was now falling into your garden because your wan next door (arguably) made a balls of their own work next door, would you really just handwave it away and take ownership of the situation? Anyone who says yes is a liar.

I suppose the neighbour could also ask himself if it's worth falling out over a tiny section of hedging, couldn't he?

You're the transgressor here. He has every right to take the hump over your actions and failure to redress the problems that YOU caused.

Cheeky considering an existing, established, 60 year old hedge as an adequate source of privacy? Now you've completely lost me. I suppose I better make him install a second wall out the back because he's been happy to rely on the wall I have built on my property.

Cheeky considering the fact that your attempts to increase the usable space in your garden has resulted in him having less usable space in his own garden. You're also looking for ways to abdicate responsibility for your actions, which is also cheeky.

I think you've gone completely off the point.

Because I'm not saying what you want to hear. I've done nothing but stay exactly on point, but you don't wanna hear the truth. That's okay, happens on Boards all the time. People come on here looking to have their views validated and get the hump when others point out their shortcomings.

Again, no interest in morality. Just legality/responsibility.

Again, I'm not giving any lessons in morality. You are responsible for what happened. You need to take responsibility for your actions instead of looking for a way to weasel out of doing the riught thing.

Simply removed a shrub from within my own property. I mean if removing items from your garden that you no longer wish to have is considered "making a balls of it" fair enough but it's news to me.

Arguably made a balls of it is exactly what you did.

I can simply remove slates from my roof all I want but if, during the process, I manage to fcuk up the neighbour's gutter then that's on me.

Thanks to these who gave measured responses and apologies to those who felt triggered and gave overly emotive responses - I'll likely ignore those as I'm not invested enough to get all worked up.

Translation: "thank you to everyone who said exactly what I wanted to hear and fake apologies to everyone who didn't follow the script, I'm now going to accuse them of being overly emotive and triggered because that's how I feel, and I'll pretend to ignore them, even though my solution will be to do exactly what they said and remedy the situation I caused in the first place".

More power to your neighbour, you sound like an absolute dose to be living beside.

No, its 100% B's problem as otherwise B could be leaving vicious climbers on A's lawn, which would be a trip hazard….or something.