Storm Arwen leaves Stockton Council tree teams stretched

The spate of recent winter storms has stretched teams that look after trees to the limit, a local authority said.

Stockton Council said Storm Arwen felled trees in Norton, Billingham, Oxbridge and Roseworth.

Community services director Jamie McCann said further gales and heavy rain had created "devastation" across the borough.

The "significant pressure" on tree management teams has led to calls for a review of "very limited" resources.

Time taken up by emergency callouts had added to a backlog in planned work, a council report said.

Tens of thousands of trees across northern England were blown over or left in danger of falling by the storm in November.

Forestry England warned timber caught on other trees could fall "with little or no warning".

Earlier this year, Stockton Council and charity Trees for Cities received £360,000 to plant 15,000 young trees, 400 fruit trees, and 450 "standard trees" over the next two winters, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

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