Tree roots near oil tanks

I have a large oil tank spaced 1m from the garden fence. It sits on a concrete slab that extends about 0.5m from the tank on all sides. The top of the tank protrudes over the top of the fence, so my neighbour decided to cover the sight of the tank by planting five leylandii trees about 2ft from the fence, so trunk of trees will be just under about 2m from the tank and just over 1m from the edge of the concrete slab

I don't know how deep the slab is but I would guess over 2ft as the tank is substantial.

Does anyone have experience of trees (particularly conifers) damaging an oil tank foundation? It would be a pretty major disaster if the tree roots caused the tank to leak due to disruption of the slab a few years down the line.

Any pictures of the tank as I’ve never seen one with a 1m deflection outwards

ShaunCorbs said:

Any pictures of the tank as I’ve never seen one with a 1m deflection outwards

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Thanks for reply. There is no deflection of the tank at all. It's the concrete slab it is sitting on that extends 0.5 from the edge of the tank on all sides.

Hi, you don’t mention if the oil line runs underground from the tank to the boiler. Does it?

Max said:

Thanks for reply. There is no deflection of the tank at all. It's the concrete slab it is sitting on that extends 0.5 from the edge of the tank on all sides.

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You say the tank is 1m from the fence but later on you say the top extends past the fence eg on your neighbours side ?

A tank within 2.0 m of a boundary has a maximum allowed height of 2.5m so my reading of the question is that the fence is lower than this.

The law changed in 2003 potentially limiting 'high hedges' to a maximum 2.0m. Anything above this can be deemed 'antisocial' by the council. (The rules are quite complicated and require neighbours to act reasonably, so google them.) So, the OP might try to agree with the neighbour a reasonable maximum height for the hedge. Keep a record of the discussion / agreement.

I can't see the roots of a, say, 2.5m leylandii damaging the slab itself. In practice it may depend on how it was constructed so you'll just have to wait and see. The roots may dry the soil out a bit and possibly cause the slab to tilt, particularly on clay soils. I'm fairly sure that if roots from a neighbour's hedge extend across the boundary and cause a nuisance you can get a tree surgeon to prune them using an 'air spade'. I think that 1m is just about enough access for this but you might want to check with a professional.

TBH I have sympathy for the neighbour. If one of my neighbours installed a 2.5m-high tank close to my boundary I'd probably want to hide it. It's best to discuss such projects with neighbour's first, and see if there is anything you can do to make it less of an eyesore, e.g.


Often the mere fact that you consulted them and were clearly trying to be a good neighbour will be enough to reduce future tensions.

Chuck said:

A tank within 2.0 m of a boundary has a maximum allowed height of 2.5m so my reading of the question is that the fence is lower than this.

The law changed in 2003 potentially limiting 'high hedges' to a maximum 2.0m. Anything above this can be deemed 'antisocial' by the council.

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Thanks for this. Yes, you are correct. Fence is 2m high, tank about 0.5m higher than this. Shaun, I guess my description was not clear. Never occurred to me that my oil tank would protrude into neighbour's garden! No, it's visible ABOVE the fence on their side.

Chuck, yes, I agree, I would not install the tank this way either but it's how it was installed by previous owner back in the 1990s I would think. Nothing at all to do with me.

I looked at the law that you quoted regarding hedge height. Like most other laws that involve councils getting involved, it's totally toothless and cites more examples of how the council would NOT be be involved than the times they would be, i.e. any help from the council can be totally discounted for all practical purposes. Ealing council for example (not my borough) even states clearly that they refuse to get involved in disputes about high hedges. Furthermore it can only be used if the hedge can be proved to spoil amenity of the adjoining property, which in this case it cannot due to location well down the garden. So my fear would be the trees growing fast to a height well in excess of 2m as Leylandii frequently do when left untrimmed, as they frequently are. No, the oil line is not underground on that side of the tank so no worries there.

I think best advice was your idea to cut off any roots that traverse the fence line. I'll reserve that idea as the last line of defence. I think I will also have a dig at the side of the tank and check the depth of the slab. Thanks for responses.