An ancient beech tree which met the chop has left its namesake road looking desolate, writes ROSEENA PARVEEN.

Residents of Beech Road, Wheatley, were horrified after the 200-year-old beech was chopped down.

Now the parish council, which fought against the chop, said that it would be pressing for a replacement.

Beech Road was part of a 1960s' housing development, built on the site of a grove of magnificent beech trees. The road was appropriately named after the last remaining tree.

But sickness, and the sheer size of the ancient beech, forced South Oxfordshire District Council to grant permission for it to be felled - only on condition that it was replaced during the next planting season.

The tree was felled late last year, in time for planting season (between October and March) but no new tree is in sight. Now parish clerk Pam Simmonds is calling for action.

She said: "The owner was given permission to chop it down. But we understood there was a condition to replace it with a younger tree.

"He has missed one planting season already. I've been given no reason as to why.

"I will be speaking to the forestry officer."

She added: "The sight of the house now speaks for itself.

"It was the only tree in the whole road.

"It's absence has made a vast difference. The area is like a desert.

"The tree must be replaced because it makes a mockery of the road name now."

Forestry officer Martin Gammie said the council had not pressed the owner after he missed last year's planting season, but was confident the condition would be met. He said: "If he misses the next season, we will press it further. But he seems quite co-operative.

"We will wait for him to come up with a proposal about the type and position of a replacement tree, and then we will make a decision.

"There is a question at the moment of where any new tree will be positioned - the last tree was too close to the neighbour's house.

"We will be asking for a beech tree in keeping with the road name, but at the moment we are waiting to see what the owner comes up with."

Story date: Wednesday 07 April

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