Seventy trees are being felled in an Oxford wood to give younger trees a chance to flourish.

Contractors for Oxford City Council began the work at the 12-acre Magdalen Wood nature reserve, at Wood Farm, on March 8.

The wood will be cut back so larger trees can grow bigger and to enable younger trees to get enough light.

The timber will be used to make timber-framed houses in the county.

Oliver de Soissons, the city council's countryside service manager, said: "By helping the younger trees, we make the wood sustainable, helping wildlife and securing a continuous supply of sustainable timber for houses."

The felling is expected to last five days and a public path running through the wood will be diverted to Peppercorn Avenue.

There will be an open day on Saturday, March 19, with demonstrations and displays about the wood's wildlife, how the timber was chosen to be felled and how it is cut and turned into struts for a timber-framed house.

Professors and students at Oxford University have joined forces in a bid to stop the felling of a tree outside a university building.

Protesters said they had not been told or consulted about the proposal to fell the 60-year-old copper beech tree outside the entrance to Oxford University's department of physiology, in the science area off South Parks Road, because of building work due to start nearby.

Following a demonstration on Saturday, the university decided the tree would not be cut down so consultation could take place.

Student Sian Alexander, 23, said there was no need for the tree to be removed.

"It's an old and much-loved tree," she said. "We're hoping to prevent it being taken down or at least engage in some kind of consultation process."

Professor of Neuroscience John Stein added: "It's one of the most important trees in Oxford because it's one of the few living things in the science area."