A tree planted in memory of Anne Diamond's cot death baby has had a preservation order slapped on it by South Oxfordshire District Council.

The television celebrity and her producer husband Mike Hollingsworth announced the break-up of their marriage last week and are now selling their mansion home in Cuddesdon.

But they will have to get permission to move the weeping willow that they have carried with them from house to house since the death of baby Sebastian in 1991.

The council has put a blanket tree preservation order on the £1.5m property, which has been put up for sale.

The willow has moved with the couple to successive homes, from Warwick and Stratford-on-Avon to their present house at the Bishop's Palace. The sad story of the couple's marriage breakdown emerged last week when the TV star revealed she had her four sons in her bed at night "just to hear their breathing".

The house was built in the 1960s on the site of the Bishop's Palace, which burned down in the 1950s. It was scheduled to be demolished as part of a plan to build a nursing home complex, including shops, a post office, doctor's surgery and hairdresser.

But the plan was turned down and district council forestry officers said the trees surrounding the site should be protected from any development.

Mr Hollingsworth told the northern area planning committee all the trees are well cared for by his head gardener, a forestry graduate. He said the blanket protection order was just a blocking move to prevent development. And he added that the order made more hard work and red tape for the council and was totally unnecessary.

He said he and his wife were now separated and the property was up for sale.

A district council spokesman said he did not think there would be any difficulty in moving the weeping willow because of its special associations for the couple.

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