Fury as tree planted in reminiscence of Winston Churchill is reduce down | UK | News | EUROtoday

A tree planted to commemorate Winston Churchill‘s dying has been chopped down regardless of a marketing campaign to put it aside. The oak was planted in 1967 in Cossington, Leicestershire, in honour of Britain’s wartime chief.

But after virtually 60 years of standing proudly within the village, it was eliminated on Friday to cease it blocking entry to a 130-home improvement. Penny Weston-Webb, 86, was there when the tree was planted.

She instructed the BBC: “We have done everything to try to keep it. It’s such a shame to have lost a part of our village’s history. I am devastated, I really am.”

Plans for the brand new houses got the inexperienced gentle in 2022, triggering a marketing campaign to avoid wasting the tree.

Emma Crowe from Cossington Parish Council mentioned the tree was a “highlight” of the village.

She mentioned the tree’s trunk can be sculpted right into a murals impressed by Churchill and displayed within the village.

A sapling grown from an acorn taken from the tree goes to be planted too.

Developer, Bellway, mentioned it is because of start work on the 130 houses within the subsequent few weeks.

A spokesperson for the agency mentioned the land was purchased with define planning permission in place requiring elimination of the tree on the web site entrance.

They mentioned this got here with the consent of Leicestershire County Council’s Highways Department and there was no various entry level.

The spokesperson added that Bellway liaised with the parish council because it purchased the land and its progress by the ultimate planning levels.

Bellway mentioned it agreed handy over the tree’s stays to the parish and it could plant new bushes on the positioning underneath the event’s landscaping plan.