Lardman writes
Im a little suck with this one so any help would be useful.

Bit of background.

I have one problem neighbour which I suppose over 30 years and bordering 5
properties isnt too bad, we only share a 10 foot segment of fence at the
bottom of our garden with them. Yesterday the chap decides to do some
pruning of the plants in my garden that he can reach, long story short, I've
lost all the privacy in garden and my living room. There were 2 leylandii
which are now shaved to the trunk and an old fashioned mock orange from back
when they were large very highly scented flowers thats hes reduced to bare
stems around 5 foot high this had particular sentimental value.

I have two questions.

Is there anything I can do at the moment that will allow light in so the
tree can thicken up on this side where he cant reach but at the same time
prevent the neighbours looking directly into and therefore through our
entire house Is there tree coloured fleece or something I can weave in
whats left of the trees?

I sympathise. New neighbour has done the same to us over a 150 ft
length. OK, our privacy and security barrier shouldn't have been on
their side, but it would have been polite to have told us what they
intended.

I think the first thing you need to do is erect a fence on the boundary
so that he can't reach over to prune. Looking at it from his side, he's
probably fed up of growth from your side over his garden, and was trying
to lengthen the gaps between his prunings, so a fence would also help to
prevent growth on his side.

A fence won't allow light to your side of the leylandii, but it will
help restore your privacy and help prevent future incidents.

And remember, he's now lost some of his privacy. Can you spend a lot of
time until you get things sorted pottering around that bit of the
boundary (and just happening to look in his direction)? ;-)

Will this have killed my mock orange - I've been trying for years to either
get a cutting to strike or a layering to take.

The usually recommendation is to cut it back quite heavily after
flowering. Otoh, if cutting a mock orange (or any shrub) back really
heavily, it's suggested you spread it over a number of years. But I
think you'll be OK. The leylandii will be more upset than the mock
orange (but only to the extent that they won't grow back at the rear).

--
Kay