Bush identity and pruning

Hi...I am helping an elderly neighbour tidy her garden and need to identify this bush. She wants to keep it as it attracts the butterflies.
It's about 7ft tall and very woody/straggly on the bottom half but with growth on the top. It has white flowers so I'm told....I need advice on how and when to prune it And what is it?...I've attached some photos of the foliage and will add one of the whole bush soon. .

 

Escallonia sp...possibly Escallonia iveyi.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Escallonia&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=KMzxU-3iGNPX7Aa86IHYBA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1536&bih=745#q=escallonia iveyi&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&tbm=isch

 

Thanks for that....it looks about right.She says it flowers pink on the bottom and white at the top???Now how do I prune it??
Anyone?

 

I agree with Silver surfer it's Escallonia.



I prune my hedging twice a year. Escallonia is tough and will take heavy pruning. To make it re-shoot lower down you will need to prune it quite harshly, it will look scruffy and bare for a while but it recovers fairly quickly as it's a strong grower. You can cut the top down by up to 3ft and then tidy the sides for shape.

 

Thanks Silver and Sheal.

I can tackle it with a bit more confidence now.
sj

 

Sounds as if you have 2 different Escallonia growing together.

You get white, pink or red flowers...but not a mix on the one shrub.

 

You are spot on with that...when I got them thinned out at the bottom there were 2 growing together.

Now she wants the ivy removed because it's grown into the garage and shed roof space and is well on its way up the house wall!!

I'll have to do another post for that :-)