Trees at Lepe Beach to be felled over collapse fears

The trees sit alongside an anchor memorial to those who took part in the D-Day landings

Three trees at a coastal beauty spot are to be cut down following fears over their safety.

The holm oaks at Lepe Beach on the Hampshire coast are close to an eroding cliff edge.

Hampshire County Council said an assessment had found them to be at risk of collapse.

It said new trees would be planted to act as a windbreak and the felled wood would be put to "plenty of new uses" elsewhere in the country park.

The trees, due to be felled in early May, are a familiar part of the New Forest coast and frame a view over the Solent, alongside an anchor memorial to the D-Day landings.

Many of the vessels bound for the Normandy beaches departed from Lepe in June 1944.

The 52-hectare park attracts up to 400,000 visitors each year but has had to contend with flooding and coastal erosion.