Bristol tree-top protesters asked to 'leave immediately'

Protesters have been perched in the trees at the allotments on Frenchay Park Road since 1 February

Campaigners who have been camped in trees in Bristol for nine days to stop them being felled for a bus route have been asked to leave by the council.

Rising Up wants to save the trees from being cut down on council-owned land at Stapleton Allotments for segregated lanes for the city's Metrobus scheme.

The council said it "respected peaceful protest" but had applied to Bristol High Court for a possession order.

Rising Up said they were "currently investigating the legal issues".

The Metrobus scheme was designed with the aim of getting more people to use public transport and cut journey times. It involves three routes across the city which all have planning approval.

'Challenge decisions'

A Rising Up spokeswoman said: "We have serious concerns over the potential breach of planning consent by Bristol City Council.

"We are here to protect the land - but also to challenge the processes and decisions which have allowed this situation to occur."

Bristol City Council said: "We respect the rights of those who wish to carry out peaceful protest but we must now take the necessary steps to prevent delays to the project and to minimise unnecessary costs to local taxpayers resulting from this action.

"We have requested protestors occupying land at Stapleton Allotments leave immediately and informed them that we have applied to Bristol High Court for a possession order."

The three Metrobus Scheme routes are Ashton Vale to Temple Meads, Cribbs Causeway via Emersons Green to the city centre and South Bristol link between the A370 Long Ashton bypass and Hengrove Park.

Work to relocate the allotments to make way for the Metrobus project is set to start later this year