Protesters gather as under-threat trees fenced off in Newark

Campaigners trying to save trees from being cut down to make way for a car park have staged a protest as they were fenced off by council staff.

There is an ongoing dispute in Newark, Nottinghamshire, over four sycamore trees that are due to be felled.

Newark and Sherwood District Council began putting metal barriers around the trees earlier.

In response dozens of protesters descended on the site singing "we will not be moved".

The plan is to fell the trees to create 36 more spaces at the car park in Balderton Gate.

Last week protesters obstructed council officers from surveying the trees.

The council entered a legally-binding agreement with the landowner in 2019, committing them to extending the car park and paying £30,000 a year in rent for 25 years.

Deputy leader Keith Girling previously admitted "mistakes were made" in this agreement, but said it would cost taxpayers more than £600,000 if the trees were not removed.

Protesters who arrived early have been allowed to stay within the area that has now been fenced off, but those who leave are not allowed back in.

A spokesperson for the authority said: "Despite the district council's best efforts to carry out an independent ecological survey of the site last week, we were prevented from doing so by campaigners on the site.

"This survey is required before the trees are removed. The land is privately owned and it is not public open space."

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