Robin Hood’s Sherwood Forest has been left ‘in ruins’ after bungling council contractors chopped down 30 protected trees. 

Local residents were shocked to discover the pine and oak trees had been mistakenly felled by contractors Foxstone Forestry, leaving them ‘in uproar’.

The trees, located in the Intake Wood nature reserve, held a protected status, meaning it is illegal to chop them down without express permission and the correct licence.

In England, those responsible for wrongly felling protected trees can be fined up to £20,000, while breaching a felling licence can result in an unlimited fine.

The woodland – part of the medieval royal hunting forest – is managed by Newark and Sherwood District Council, with works taking place as part of an initiative to replant native species.

The council announced a pause to ongoing felling work after it emerged that trees outside of the licence area had been affected.

The Forestry Commission has now launched an investigation into the incident, which a spokesperson for Foxstone Forestry said was ‘accidental’ and without malicious intent.

Local residents were shocked to discover the pine and oak trees had been mistakenly felled by contractors Foxstone Forestry, leaving them ‘in uproar’

Father-of-two John Flowers, 69, said the woodland was part of the reason he moved to the area in 2015 – he is one of many local residents left in shock by the felling

Mother-of-two Nicola Gayson said the workers should have been more careful. 

The 50-year-old, who runs a cleaning business, said: ‘It’s gone beyond drastic what they’ve done, it’s absolutely unbelievable. It’s disgusting.

‘They’ve felled the wrong trees and they’ve just left them in the middle of the path. You cannot walk in those woods safely.

‘Everybody is saying the same, we’re all angry. I would not want to be a part of the council and walk down these streets because everyone is uproar over this.’

She says the loss of trees has also destroyed the privacy in nearby homes: ‘You can see straight into some peoples houses because of the lack of trees now, you can see their living rooms.’

Resident Alan Sands, 73, moved into the area in 2011 and said the woodland helped distract him while he battled cancer.

The retired building surveyor said: ‘Unfortunately that mistake is going to take 50 years to rectify.

‘People like myself use that wood on a daily basis, but now that is gone. Replanting is not going to fix that in my lifetime.

‘We estimate around 20 to 30 trees have been destroyed.

‘This area was designated for thinning, which is normal forestry practice. But they’ve taken a lot of it down, which wasn’t the plan.

‘This part is along the main access to the woodlands and backs onto houses – no doubt they bought their houses for the nice woodland that they’ve now lost that.’

Contractors were also criticised for carrying out the work during bird nesting season

The council announced a pause to ongoing felling work after it emerged that trees outside of the licence area had been affected

Father-of-two John Flowers, 69, said the woodland was part of the reason he moved to the area in 2015.

The retired health and safety officer said: ‘We reckon someone misread what should be chopped down. There were a lot of valuable trees in the area so it’s even worse.

‘The contractors used heavy plantation tools which has caused a lot of damage. It’s a total mess. It’s a health and safety nightmare.

‘One of the trunks is only being held in place by a branch. If it broke, it could roll onto the main walking route used by kids walking to school. At the moment it just looks a mess.

‘We had oak trees that weren’t even scheduled to be removed that have been chopped down. The aim was to replace the older trees with native trees.

‘They’ve taken a lot of native species of plants out just by using their machinery.’

Contractors were also criticised for carrying out the work during bird nesting season.

Intake Wood is part of Sherwood Forest, an ancient forest in Nottinghamshire that is most commonly associated with the legend of Robin Hood.

It covers more than 1,000 acres and contains one thousand ancient oaks which are known to be more than 500 years old, the highest concentration of ancient trees in Europe.

Councillor Paul Peacock, leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: ‘We are aware that a section of woodland has been felled when it was not supposed to be.

‘This was not part of the plan, and we are investigating what has happened.

‘We are committed to doing everything possible, working with the Forestry Commission, to identify why this occurred, and take action to put things right.

‘We will continue to work with the local community to provide updates on our investigation.’

Contractor Foxstone Forestry said: ‘Trees were felled by the machine operator by accident, the Forestry Commission were contacted straight away by both the operator and myself.

‘The Forestry Commission agreed that there was no malicious intent with the works that had gone ahead but an investigation would need to be conducted.

‘The site is part of an overall plan to reduce the conifer stock and replace with hardwood which is part of a regeneration scheme to improve the biodiversity within Intake Wood, a scheme to improve habitat for birds and bugs.’

The Forestry Commission confirmed it had launched an investigation into the work.

A spokesperson said: ‘The Forestry Commission is aware of the tree felling and has undertaken a site assessment.

‘We are now conducting a review to assess whether there have been any breaches of the Forestry Act.

‘As this is an ongoing matter, we cannot comment further on the progress of this case at this time.’