SEVEN beloved trees in Leigh have been axed despite desperate pleas from residents and green activists to save them. 

Simon Gittus, resident and Green activist, said he was “devastated” to see the mature ash trees had been removed from Vernon Road. 

Mr Gittus, who had set up a petition to “stop the chop,” said the council had taken the wrong decisions and said any replacement saplings would take decades to reach maturity.

The trees were “almost a century old” but Southend Council said it had no choice but to topple them as they were “riddled with fungus and disease”. 

(Image: Simon Gittus)

He said: ““It’s heartbreaking, I have grown up with those trees. It’s just very sad.

“People have been coming in and they are just heartbroken. The council have said very little, they have not bothered to respond to the petition we sent to them. They are right near a school, so no doubt the air quality will suffer. I think people will be really shaken up about this.

“They should have managed their decline, I think there is a better way of doing it than just lopping them all down in one go.

“My grandparents lived on Vernon Road and I have fond memories of these trees as a kid.

“Unfortunately, the council has ignored the petition and hasn’t taken the right decision to save these trees.”

(Image: Simon Gittus)

Mr Gittus said the council had displayed removal notices on the trees, which he said have stood there for nearly a century, but did not list them on its website.

Lydia Hyde, councillor for climate, environment and waste, said: “Trees are a vital part of our community and their removal is always a last resort. Unfortunately, the Ash trees on Vernon Road show clear signs of extreme decline, including wilting leaves and loss of canopy growth, making their removal necessary to prevent safety risks.

"There are also potential signs of Ash dieback and we are continuing to investigate the extent of this.

"While these trees have also caused damage to the pavement, their declining health is the primary reason for action."

She said the council will plant 14 new trees on Vernon Road, which will have less impact on the pavement.

The council said they consulted with residents on trees' removal, and acknowledged an "administrative oversight" meant removal notices were not visible on their website.

Ms Hyde said the council is focusing on increasing "street tree cover" in Leigh

Leigh councillor for the Green Party, Richard Longstaff, said the council had shifted its story too many times and are “clutching at straws” to justify their actions.

(Image: Simon Gittus) (Image: Simon Gittus) He said: “As a council we need to be transparent with the public, especially when we are removing our community’s natural assets. It is worrying that the council officers did not place notice of their removals on the website – I dread to think how many trees are being removed without residents being informed.

“It’s incidents like this where there has been little scrutiny in officers’ recommendations, or sufficient evidence provided, that encouraged me to submit my tree motion to full council last September. But unfortunately it has been kicked into the long grass by both the Tories and Labour, ignoring councillors who voted for it.”