More than a century of kissing has come to an end at a romantic spot which has acted as a magnet for generations of smooching couples.

They were simply doing what came naturally to lovers for decades by heading for one of the city's most famous trees, renowned for its huge crop of the romantic plant.

The 20m-high acacia tree at The Plain was yesterday cut down for safety reasons by Oxford City Council.

The tree on the roundabout, which was about 100 years old, had almost died, and could crash into the path of oncoming traffic at any time.

A bumper crop of mistletoe in 1976 attracted hundreds of courting couples.

Kissing couples need not despair, however, for the mistletoe has colonised an adjacent lime tree.

City council bosses now plan to replace the acacia with an evergreen Chinese Privet, which is ideally suited to urban surroundings.

Tree officer Jason Headley said: "It is a shame to lose the acacia but it is almost completely dead and could be dangerous."

Grounds maintenance officer Andrew Daffurn added that it was possible traffic fumes had speeded the tree's demise. "We can't risk branches of the trees falling into the path of traffic travelling round the roundabout," he said. "It could cause a fatal accident.

He added: "Couples would flock to The Plain at Christmas when there was a good crop of mistletoe. Three years ago, one bloke was arrested for scaling the tree because he was trying to cut down the mistletoe to sell it."

Green councillor Mike Woodin, who was arrested last year after protesting against the removal of trees from the now defunct LMS station, said it was clear there was good reason for the removal of the acacia.

Five top spots in Oxford for a smooch:

* Beneath the Bridge of Sighs

* The top of Carfax Tower

* The back row of the ABC Cinema

* On a punt on the Cherwell

* Parson's Pleasure in the University parks

Story date: Friday 19 February

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.