TWO Chester residents tied themselves to a tree to save it from being cut down.
When Donna Alcock and Elizabeth Reid saw that tree surgeons were cutting down silver birch trees in Charlotte Court where they live, they decided to take drastic action by using the cord from their dressing gowns to attach themselves to the last remaining tree.
And thanks to their dramatic protest, contractors from Muir Group Housing Association who are managing the site, were forced to stop their work when the women refused to move.
Ms Alcock, 45, who has lived on Charlotte Court for more than 20 years, was furious the trees were being cut down without permission.
“The courtyard is full of beautiful trees and this shouldn’t be allowed to happen.
“We felt so strongly about it that we did the only thing we felt we could - use our dressing gown cords to tie ourselves to the last one before they could cut it down.”
Both women said they were so angered by the incident that if the tree surgeons returned, they would continue in their protest.
Sam Scott, director of Housing Services at Muir Group, said:
“We are very sorry to hear that two of our residents were not happy about some tree management work being carried out at one of our housing schemes in Chester.
“Following previous complaints from a number of residents of this scheme the Association sought advice about the most appropriate course of action to take.
“The advice we received involved the removal of a number of small silver birch trees.”
She added: “As soon as concerns were raised we immediately instructed our contractors to stop work.
“We are currently investigating what the issues are and will be speaking to our residents again in due course.”
