Trees deflecting telephone lines

[JeffSmith]

I have telephone line crossing my property that serve two further properties.  The lines may have been there since the mid 1950s.  Trees on my property (and my neighbours) have now grown and are deflecting the telephone lines.  Whose liability are these lines?

[imjolly]

The liability to trim trees is yours and your neighbour not opernreach

[JeffSmith]

Thanks for that.   But really? Why should it be my liability to keep my trees away from overhead lines that are crossing my property? There is no wayleave in existence as far as I am aware. It doesn't seem right to me. 

But thank you all the same. 

[jac_95]

It is the responsibility of the land owner to maintain the trees. 

Openreach don't normally need wayleaves for flying wires - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/12/schedule/2/crossheading/power-to-fly-lines/enacted

If you require Openreach to temporarily move the overhead lines to prune/cut the tree then you can organise it with them:

https://www.openreach.com/building-developers-and-projects/altering-our-network

[36ULW]

Openreach don’t need a Wayleave to fly wires over your land as long as they meet the height requirements as per the, Flying Wires Act’.

You only own the land, not the airspace above it.

Also to be honest I really wouldn’t concern yourself with it.

Just leave it as is, overhead cables, be it Telecoms, Power runs through trees all the time. If and when they go faulty Openreach will just replace them anyway.