the first cut . . .and there is more to come

This is not the first time that the tree surgeons have moved in on Doncaster Racecourse.

At the end of last year, the trees and shrubs were set to be felled, but council workers were warned off by the Forestry Commission as they did not have the correct authorisation.

However, that was only a temporary victory for the protesters and, in January, “swathes” more trees were cut down on the orders of the mayor.

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His plans involve cutting down 80 per cent of the trees across eight hectares of land – so the total number of trees felled will run into thousands. Only the mature oak trees will remain.

Mr Davies said that there were no trees at all in the middle of the racecourse in the 1970s and their growth means that they now block the view of seven furlongs – nearly a mile – which equates to a minute and a half of racing.

He also stressed that there are environmental reasons for felling the trees.

Yesterday he said a council biodiversity officer had inspected the trees and found that 95 per cent of them should be felled.

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