THE council says it is having to spend thousands of pounds removing yellow ribbons from trees around Southend.

The ribbons have been tied to trees, lamp posts and road signs across the borough since a campaign was set up by protest group Saxon King in Priory Park.

Since the campaign began almost a year ago, residents have joined the cause to save trees in Southend from being chopped down.

Now Southend Council officials are urging people to stop tying the ribbons as staff have to spend hours removing them.

Mark Flewitt, cabinet member for planning and transport said: “What these campaigners are doing is no better then graffiti around this town.

“I have had many calls from residents who are concerned about these ribbons because they think trees are being marked to be taken down. It has been getting worse over the past few weeks and it is a waste of time and money.

“I do not have an exact figure but it is costing thousands of pounds of extra work for our parks team who should be looking after our parks and not doing this.

“At the moment it is not affecting how the parks are being looked after, but if it carries on then it will. While we respect their political views we do not want them putting these ribbons up everywhere.”

Patsy Link, a campaigner for Skipp, said: “It is not just us that is putting up these ribbons but other residents who have found out what is going on and want to support us.

“People know that what is going on is not right, and they want the council to know about it. We don’t understand why the council can’t just leave them alone, because they are a legal protest. We do not want to make enemies of the council, we want it to set up a proper policy to inform us when and why trees are being chopped down.”