Historic 120-year-old tree saved from being chopped down by a London council

A 120-year-old tree has been saved from being chopped down by a London council at the eleventh hour after a homeowner lodged an injunction to stop the felling without giving notice.

Haringey Council in north London seized the tree in a dawn raid ‘under the cover of darkness’ on Sunday in a bid to stop furious activists scaling it and stopping the felling.

The move was branded heavy-handed after the security guards were deployed to stop a nearly year-long occupation of the tree by demonstrators, who put up hammocks and signs in the branches.

The council took possession of the tree earlier this week and was going to court to get permission to carry out the felling, over claims the deep roots were causing subsidence to two nearby homes.

But resident, Andrew Brenner, lodged his injunction in the early hours of Wednesday morning to stop the authority chopping down the tree without giving notice to other parties.

The hearing at Clerkenwell County Court yesterday, which was to decide the ancient plane tree’s fate, was adjourned after Mr Brenner’s dramatic intervention.

The injunction will now stand until a follow up hearing in a few weeks’ time.

The row over the tree began last year, when insurance company Allianz blamed it for being the primary cause of subsidence to a property and demanded the council chop it down and admit liability for £400,000.

Source of data and images: dailymail