Residents 'angry and upset' over tree felling

Alison Dhatt, a nearby resident, said people were in shock at what happened

Residents living near a green space in Stoke-on-Trent have gathered in protest, after they said trees there were cut down without warning.

Police were called to Canberra Crescent in Meir Park on Friday afternoon, where crowds congregated to object as a number of mature trees were chopped down.

Protesters said the open land was sold off by the council, and they did not know who currently owned it.

Staffordshire Police said a group was trying to stop the felling of trees by a gardening business - work that had been arranged by the landowner.

The force added the gardening business agreed to carry out further removals at a later date.

The BBC has contacted Stoke-on-Trent City Council for comment.

Denise Hughes, who has lived nearby since the 1980s, told BBC Radio Stoke: "I'm angry, I'm upset."

"It's absolutely dreadful, because we’ve got such a nice wildlife section," she said, "you see foxes at night, there's bats flying around, there’s birds and everything.

"It's just a lovely place to go, and you just don’t expect to get up one morning and they're chopping everything down. I’m just absolutely appalled."

Police were called as people gathered to object to the work

Alison Dhatt has lived opposite the green for more than 30 years.

She said she believed the trees were being cut to make way for houses.

"We are in shock," she said.

"We're here, really, for a peaceful protest to say we’re not happy, we haven’t been advised, and what is going on?

"We want the council to give us an answer about how they’ve been allowed to cut all the trees down without us being able to object to it."