HIGH Legh Parish Council and residents have blasted Cheshire East Council for ‘destroying’ an important part of the village’s history.

The trunk of an ancient, dead tree, known as ‘Blasted Oak’, was a well-loved landmark in High Legh and said to have stood on the Broadoak Lane site for 800 years.

The parish council has been seeking advice on how best to preserve the tree when it was noticed, at the end of last year, that the metal band supporting it had broken.

However, residents and councillors were shocked to discover that the tree had been ‘felled’ by Cheshire East Council earlier this month.

"It comes as a great surprise that this great landmark of our community has been removed without any consultation," said Clr Richard Wright, High Legh Parish Council chairman.

"This is tantamount to vandalism and the parish council will be seeking a full and satisfactory explanation as to why this part of High Legh history has been destroyed."

High Legh resident Lord Grey’s family has lived in the village for more than 800 years and he also spoke out against the council’s actions.

He said: “We as a family, who used to own this tree until the council took over the highways and verges, have always cherished this ancient tree and would have expected the council to do the same. We are furious that they have abused their power in this way."

Cheshire East Council said that its highways officers carried out an assessment of the tree on Friday, February 6, in response to concerns raised by the parish council regarding its safety.

The borough council said that on arrival, the tree was found to be ‘completely unstable and swaying’ and therefore a larger section of the tree had to be dealt with than originally envisaged.

Clr David Topping, Cheshire East Council’s cabinet member for service commissioning, said: “The tree had been in decline for more than 60 years and had remained upright only because it had been strapped to the adjacent healthy tree.

“However, the strap had perished and there was a real danger that the dead tree would fall and potentially injure or kill passers-by.

“The dead tree was not felled. It was roped up while the limb of the live tree was cut off.

“Once the support was removed, the section of the dead tree that had rotted away from the lower section of the stump was gently lowered to the ground and placed onto the verge. The solid section of dead stump was retained in its original position.

“We had previously written to the parish council clerk to explain our intention to make the tree safe, as well as how and why we would do so.

“We also discussed the matter with Cheshire East’s principal forestry and arboricultural officer and the conservation officer and took their advice to carry out a bat and owl survey before any works commenced.

“After dealing with the immediate making safe of the tree, it was suggested that its future in a safer place in the village could be discussed.”

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