depends if there is any disease in it. they regularly creak as the fibres flex and move. that doesnt indicate anything wrong. if there are visible fungi hen i would ask them to have it assessed by a tree surgeon/tree officer at the council.

Just how 'close' is the tree to your house I wonder... SBG is correct that all trees creak and groan but if it is within - say - 20 foot of your house I would ask the tree officer to take a look at with a view to having removed.

The botanical name of the Ash is Fraxinus excelsior (if I've got the spelling correct). And it's no coincidence that Fraxinus means 'breaks easily'. I'm a tree-lover, but even I would be nervous of an Ash close to my house. Ash trees make Council parks departments very nervous (I used to work for one, so I know) because they are notorious for suddenly dropping branches, even on completely calm days. I'm not trying to scare you, I think the problem is more with dropping branches than actually falling over, but I would urge you to seek an expert opinion on this tree - try contacting your Council and see if they will send round one of their tree inspectors.

I hate ash. Nothing grows under them and the roots go everywhere. Also, seedlings pop up all over the place and turn into trees if you turn your back. I would do what you can to persuade your neighbour to remove the tree completely. Perhaps offer to replace it for him with a more suitable tree.

I think they are handsome trees......but then I've never had to live with one lol

Might it have a preservation order on it? also who pays for the inspection and felling removing etc?

The council will make it safe but it will cost, question is who....

A huge ash tree is the dominant tree in our garden. I don't have any problem growing plants beneath it, in fact I rather like the fact that it comes into leaf late in the season and grow early flowering bulbs beneath it. Agree with Sid about the branches breaking easily and I would be concerned if it was near to the house.
I think that you should talk to your neighbour and discuss your concerns but I doubt if you could 'make' them take the tree down.

Drc726 - a TPO doesn't mean you can't touch the tree - just means you have to get permission first. Re inspection - I think it's free with our Council, but others may be different.

Yes Sid but what I meant was if its got aTPO you cannot just hack at it? Good to know the inspection is free but that still rasies several questions?
Free inspection does that still apply if its not your tree you asked to be inspected?
Also if the inspection says theirs work to be done what inforcement do you have if the tree is not yours and who pays? as wouldnt want court costs etc to get it done?

No, you can't just hack at a tree that's got a TPO - you need to get approval for the specific work you want to do from the Council, i.e. you want to crown lift it, or remove a limb or whatever. Regards the inspection, the inspector would have to get premission from the owner to entre his land. I don't know what would happen if he refused, but I don't really see why he should. If it's on private land, I don't think the council can insist a dodgy tree is removed, he can only report to the owner on the condition. And if he reports that it's dangerous, then I would think the owner would be open to the suggestion that it should be removed. If he isn't, then a court case could proceed I guess. The neighbour would at least have on his side the expert and impartial evidence provided by the tree inspector. I'm just guessing here...I've never come across something like this in practice - wasn't my area lol

Ask your neighbour if they would consider coppicing it? Say that Ash trees are prone to breakage and you are nervous in the current Weather conditions.

Ask them if it has a TPO on it and take it from there. Ask your neighbours to get an inspector from the local authority round to assess any coppicing.

Communication of your concerns politely - verbally to your neighbour would be the best solution, I see the other members have mentioned court action and other stuff, but as a 'legal' person on this site, I wouldn't recommend it!

If your neighbour refuses to give you the time of day, put it in writing, take a copy of your letter and if the unspeakable happens and the tree does break and damage your property you will have evidence of your concerns if you do want to go down the legal route.

If any branches do suddenly drop off, take photographic evidence and then you can go to your local authority and report it as a dangerous tree.

Completely agree - good advice Andrea.

Thank you all so much, all of your comments have been very useful and informative. As branches (big ones) have already come down and I have spoken to the neighbours about my concerns, to no avail, I think the photo's (which I already have), letter and tree surgeon will have to be my course of action. Just need to find one that will come and take a look, which seems to be a problem so far? Thank you again. Gill

Good luck - let us know how you get on Gill

Get in touch with your council's parks dept! Ask them to send their tree inspector!

Agree with Sid...

Just to add my thoughts on this if it was me I'd get in touch with my house insurers and get their thoughts. They might not be too happy with paying out on a house destroyed by a fallen tree if said tree didn't need to fall on your house!

I wouldn't be asking the Council tree inspector to assess this tree without letting your neighbour know. If you manage this situation amicably with communication then they should be contacting the Council Tree inspector themselves, then you won't have the issues of asking them for right of way on to their property if it is required.
That would certainly pee me off if I didn't have any idea why my neighbour had requested this of something on my property without talking to me first!!

If you call your insurers and mention this, you will get yourself into a red tape situation so I wouldn't do this at all. However, I would check my house and contents insurance policy to see if you are covered. Mentioning it to the Insurers will probably increase your premium and any conditions that already cover you will be struck off your policy or more sub-conditions written in.
If you aren't insured, it may be worth looking into the terms of your contract, adding cover or changing your company.