A Malton woman is protesting to save 'beautiful 80 year old' trees at the bottom of her garden, which she claims 'protect' her home.

Alice Ballingher, 41, from Malton, has lived in her home for almost five years and claims in that time she has seen the 80 year old pine trees at the bottom of her garden protect her house from storms and give her privacy.

The 41-year-old claims the owner of the land which the trees are on is threatening to chop them down because they are 'unsafe.'

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Alice said: "It's a big issue, these trees are very old, they are Scotts Pines which aren't that common. A couple of years ago two of them were cut down behind my garden and destroyed so many birds nests at the same time. I called the tree protection officer but they said there was nothing they could do because they had already been cut.

"Then the other day I heard the owner of the land is planning on cutting down the rest of them, but these trees are very old and very solid.

She said two have them have already been cut down
She said two have them have already been cut down

"A single tree can support over 1000 organisms, as well as the importance of carbon, there are numerous reasons why these trees need to be protected but from a human point of view they protect the houses behind them from storms and privacy.

"By cutting them down they are making my house non-private, it's an enjoyment of personal privacy, I've never had to shut my lounge windows because it is private, but if you cut them down you can see into my lounge and I can see into my neighbours bedroom and I don't want to."

Alice claims that the other houses in the area are also against having the trees cut down. She is protesting for the removal of the trees to be paused until she can speak to the tree protection officer regarding the safety of the trees.

She added: "Its selfish and its stupid, the garden is beautiful. If those trees come down the gardens will scorch or get blown away - the trees protect all the gardens.

"They are scotch pines as well, they are a natural tree to the British Isles and they are beautiful, they have woodpeckers and lots of birds in them."

Alice has claimed the reasoning behind the owner of the land wanting the trees cut down is because of safety concerns, she alleged that these trees have survived Storm Erwin and other pretty strong winds but nothing has 'budged'.

She said: "If anything they protect our homes from the wind, I have seen them in some incredibly strong winds and nothing has budged them - nothing has blown in my garden either because of them, they are protecting the properties. I have an ancient shed and even that stayed put because of them.

"They belong here and have been there a very very long time.

"Someone has got to protect these things, it's something I'm passionate about. I'm hoping I can speak to the tree protection officer and get them to judge the safety of the trees, so they can convince the land owner not cut them down especially - hopefully it will persuade them if people are protesting it.

"They need to be a bit more respectful of the tenants of the street."

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