Council’s special branch to the rescue
'Timber' was the cry from Lancaster City Council’s tree surgeons as they skilfully averted a disaster last week when they felled a tree in the city.
'Timber' was the cry from Lancaster City Council's tree surgeons as they skilfully averted a disaster last week when they felled a tree in the city.
Horrendous weather conditions saw a mature horse chestnut tree lifting up the tarmac in Westbourne Road on Thursday 31 January. A concerned resident called the council and a team of six men came to the rescue.
The large tree was too dangerous to climb so the plan was to fell the tree onto the road. However two cars stood in its path. With police unable to trace the owners of the cars the team began the operation to carefully bring the tree down.
Using a series of wedges the tree surgeons eased the tree down with just six inches to spare. The branches will now be chipped into mulch that can be used on the council's shrub beds.
Paul Cocker, Operations Manager for City Council (Direct) Services, said: "Thanks to the hard work of all those involved in particular the Police, we managed to successfully remove the tree. It was definitely one of the biggest trees we've had to fell and the skill of the men ensured it was brought down safely."
Date Updated: 19/03/09