Workers chop trees in famous Sherwood Forest from Robin Hood

By Adam Dutton

Fuming locals have blasted bungling council contractors for "illegally" chopping down protected trees in Robin Hood’s Sherwood Forest.

The Intake Wood nature reserve has been left "in ruins" after around 30 pines and oaks were hacked down earlier this month.

The woodland — part of the medieval royal hunting forest — is managed by Newark and Sherwood District Council, which was replanting native species.

An investigation has now been launched after contractors Foxstone Forestry felled dozens of protected trees by mistake.

Mom-of-two Nicola Gayson blasted the error saying the workers should have gone to "Specsavers."

The 50-year-old, who runs a cleaning business, said: “I’m about five minutes away, I visit there two times a day, most days.

“It’s gone beyond drastic what they’ve done, it’s absolutely unbelievable.

“They either need to go to Specsavers or they were on the sauce before they did anything. It’s disgusting.

“They’ve felled the wrong trees and they’ve just left them in the middle of the path. You cannot walk in those woods safely.

“Everybody is saying the same, we’re all angry.

“I would not want to be a part of the council and walk down these streets because everyone is uproar over this.”

She says the loss of trees has also destroyed the privacy in nearby homes.

She said: “You can see straight into some people's houses because of the lack of trees now, you can see their living rooms.”

Resident Alan Sands, 73, moved into the area in 2011 and said the woodland helped distract him while he battled cancer.

The retired building surveyor said: “Unfortunately that mistake is going to take 50 years to rectify.

“People like myself use that wood on a daily basis, but now that is gone. Replanting is not going to fix that in my lifetime.

“We estimate around 20 to 30 trees have been destroyed.

“This area was designated for thinning, which is normal forestry practice. But they’ve taken a lot of it down, which wasn’t the plan.

“This part is along the main access to the woodlands and backs onto houses - no doubt they bought their houses for the nice woodland that they’ve now lost that.”

Dad-of-two John Flowers, 69, said the woodland was part of the reason he moved to the area in 2015.

The retired health and safety officer said: “We reckon someone misread what should be chopped down. There were a lot of valuable trees in the area so it’s even worse.

“The contractors used heavy plantation tools which has caused a lot of damage. It's a total mess. It’s a health and safety nightmare.

“One of the trunks is only being held in place by a branch. If it broke, it could roll onto the main walking route used by kids walking to school.

“At the moment it just looks a mess.

“We had oak trees that weren’t even scheduled to be removed that have been chopped down. The aim was to replace the older trees with native trees.

“They’ve taken a lot of native species of plants out just by using their machinery."

Contractors were also criticized for carrying out the work during bird nesting season.

Councillor Paul Peacock, leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “We are aware that a section of woodland has been felled when it was not supposed to be.

“This was not part of the plan, and we are investigating what has happened.

"We are committed to doing everything possible, working with the Forestry Commission, to identify why this occurred, and take action to put things right.

“We will continue to work with the local community to provide updates on our investigation.”

The Forestry Commission confirmed it had launched an investigation into the work.

A spokesperson said: “The Forestry Commission is aware of the tree felling and has undertaken a site assessment.

“We are now conducting a review to assess whether there have been any breaches of the Forestry Act.

“As this is an ongoing matter, we cannot comment further on the progress of this case at this time.”