Health and safety police take axe to apple trees in case fruit proves to be dangerous

A Scarborough resident has been left devastated after the trees that she saw every day for 11 years were unceremoniously cut down. Council staff who came to hack down the six leafy crab apple trees outside Jose Williams' home in Keld Close, Newby, said they had been told to do so because the falling fruit was dangerous. The council had been contracted to carry out the work on behalf of Yorkshire Coast Homes.

Mrs Williams said that she had not been consulted about the removal of the trees, and that several of the street's residents had been shocked to find their street bare. "Those trees made the street look beautiful," she said. "I've been ill for the last few months and I haven't been able to go out. I used to sit and look at them because they were so pretty. They could have told us beforehand but they said nothing whatsoever about it.



"They started last Saturday and I went out to speak to them and they said someone would come to see me before they cut down the one outside my house, but then they just turned up and finished the job." Mrs Williams also dismissed the fears that the fruit poses a risk to the public. "They were only tiny apples and when they did fall I used to go outside and sweep them up," she added.

"Their excuse was that they were dangerous but they've completely ruined this street and the residents didn't know anything about it. I don't know why they would do such a thing - I'm really furious. I've been here for 11 years and I always used to love those trees. They made the street attractive, gave me privacy and stopped the wind. A lot of people decided to move here because it was a leafy district."