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Chris Packham criticises council for mistakenly cutting down 800 trees

BBC Palmer ParkBBC
Hundreds of saplings were wiped out in a "routine clearance of undergrowth" by the council's maintenance team

TV naturalist Chris Packham has hit out at a council after it cut down 800 young trees in a park during an "unnecessary clean-up".

The trees, in Palmer Park, Reading, were mistakenly wiped out by Reading Borough Council's maintenance team.

Packham said: "Given the dire straits our landscape and wildlife is in this is unforgivable."

The council said a mass tree-planting scheme was planned to compensate, but it had yet to confirm a date.

Chris Packham
The presenter is urging the council to plant the trees during the winter

Packham said the situation was "demoralising for all those who planted and nurtured the trees".

Volunteers planted the 800 saplings with the council's permission in 2016 and 2017. They were donated by conservation charity, the Woodland Trust.

The council has apologised to the community volunteers involved and said chopping down the trees was "an unfortunate occurrence".

The authority said the trees were cleared by mistake because they were "untagged and not clearly visible amongst nettles and brambles when the area was being maintained".