Disgraceful, what a nasty man.
1.Did he have to come onto your property to cut the tree , or could he reach fromhis garden?
2.As others have said he has no entitlement to light in his garden , and no right whatsoever to demolish your tree without your agreement.
3.even if the branches overhang his property he should have indicated his intention to remove them , and in this
case of
the tv reception youwould have agreed.
4. the cut off branches should then be offered back to you , not that you would want them before disposal. they are legally yours.
5. the council is talking out of theirbackside and clearly do not want to be involved , so you could chase them up as well and go for the jugular.They must havea tree officer or some such person.
6 See your Cab as suggested for advice.
7 get a free 1/2 hour appt with a solicitor for advice.
I do not know your circumstances or anything about your life , but I would not be able to just let this go.
I would go as far as getting a solicitor to write to him , telling him that you will be ordering a replacement tree and having it planted and cost will be down to him as compensation for damaged caused.
However that is easy for me to say , he is not my neighbour and you know him better than I, also you are in the community and I am not.
Finally providing the tree is not completely ruined it will grow again butwill takea long time to do so.whatever you do I wish you well Brenda.