Ed Sheeran moves gigs to save trees in Germany

Ed Sheeran's European promoters have been forced to move an open-air show as 104 trees were at risk.

The concert was to take place in a large car park in Dusseldorf in July, but local conservationists stopped a licence being granted.

FKP Scorpio released a statement saying the shows would be moved to an arena in a nearby city.

An extra date will also have to be added to the tour to accommodate the smaller size of the venue.

The shows, due to accommodate 80,000 fans a night, were going to take place in the car park of a new exhibition centre. They were moved as the gigs would have led to trees being cut down, despite promises from the council to plant more.

"The artist and organisers want to give fans clarity as quickly as possible," the statement reads.

"Ed Sheeran doesn't want to disappoint his fans, and within his tour schedule an additional date has now been cleared, which allows the move to the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen."

The company also said refunds would be offered to fans who did not want to travel to the new venue.

This is not the first time the two shows have been moved. They were originally scheduled to take place at Essen-Mulheim airport, but organisers had different environmental issues there too.

This time it wasn't trees, but the local bird population of skylarks that stopped the shows.

They are an endangered species and were nesting on the site, meaning the concerts would have put their lives at risk.

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