Anger at tree felling in Gloucester

Anger has erupted in Brockworth after more than a dozen trees in Abbotswood Road were cut down.

Ernie Flounders, a tree warden for Brockworth, said Gloucestershire Highways workmen were too hasty in felling the mix of hawthorn, maple and ash.

He said: "It was around December 10 when I first noticed they were doing work. There were some contractors' vans there and I went to say hello.

"They said they were clearing some of the trees away from the stream, but they said the bigger trees would be left standing.

"It was only when I saw some big logs being loaded onto the van that I realised around 14 more mature trees, which need not have been felled, had been taken down."

He added: "Ideally, we would now like to see the tree coppiced and allowed to grow again."

Mr Flounders said the disappearance of the trees had caused an uproar in the village, with complaints from residents. But John Kay, Gloucestershire Highways manager, said the work had to be done to stop flooding.

"We removed overhanging and overgrown scrub vegetation and trees from a watercourse which regularly overflows at a culvert at the Ermin Street junction with Abbotswood Way.

"This vegetation has been causing properties in Ermin Street to be flooded.

"The branches et cetera from this vegetation regularly blocked the grills at the entrance to the culvert."

Mr Kay said before the work was done residents were notified by post. They were given a description of the work and the reasons why it was being carried out.

He added: "This work is part of a bigger programme of drainage works to the watercourse and the nearby drainage in Ermin Street.

"We have further drainage works planned for this location at a future date but preventing the screens from filling with this debris was a vitally important part of the flood prevention scheme in this area."