Toby Carvery outrage over slicing down of iconic tree | UK | News | EUROtoday

Enfield Council has launched authorized proceedings in opposition to Mitchells & Butlers PLC over the partial felling of the Whitewebbs Oak at Whitewebbs Park, on land leased to the corporate. Cllr Tim Leaver, deputy chief of Enfield Council, mentioned: “The destruction of the ancient Whitewebbs Oak was a reckless act which caused huge damage to the tree and cut its expected lifespan. It shocked and angered our entire community.”

The council has served a proper Section 146 discover below the Law of Property Act 1925, citing critical breaches of the lease, and has now commenced forfeiture proceedings in Edmonton County Court after Mitchells & Butlers failed to reply meaningfully. The proceedings, filed on November 4, 2025, may outcome within the firm dropping the lease for the Toby Carvery.

Cllr Leaver added: “This centuries-old tree, sometimes known as the Guy Fawkes Oak, was an irreplaceable part of Enfield’s natural heritage and was felled without the Council’s knowledge or consent, in clear breach of the lease governing the site.”

The oak, estimated to be 450–500 years outdated with a girth of 6 metres and a crown roughly 20 metres excessive, had been listed on the Woodland Trust’s historical tree stock since 2020. Its partial felling in April 2025 eliminated the primary stem, historical pollard poles and branches, leaving a four-metre stump and a six-metre lopped pollard pole.

Experts say the tree would have supported greater than 2,000 species of birds, bats, bugs and fungi, with a remaining life expectancy of over 80 years.

Cllr Leaver mentioned: “Enfield Council has served a formal Section 146 notice on Mitchells & Butlers, the company responsible for the Toby Carvery at Whitewebbs Park. They have failed to engage meaningfully with the Council or to make reparations. We have therefore started forfeiture proceedings for serious breaches of their lease.”

He added: “We ask that Mitchells & Butlers issues a public apology and provides financial reparations for the irreversible damage they have caused as well as compensate the Council for the significant costs incurred.”

The council is working with arboriculture specialists to protect what stays of the tree and its surrounding habitat. Cllr Leaver mentioned: “The people of Enfield deserve accountability. This case is about upholding our duty to protect our environment and our shared heritage. We will do everything within our power to ensure justice for the Whitewebbs Oak and seek to make it clear that such reckless disregard for our borough will never be tolerated.”

The case is anticipated to proceed to trial later this yr or early subsequent yr, marking a uncommon occasion of a council looking for forfeiture of a lease over the destruction of a single tree.

Express.co.uk has contacted Mitchells & Butlers PLC for remark.