Trees blocking the sea view have been poisoned

Suspicion has fallen on residents of a close-knit community in Bournemouth, after it emerged that two Scots pines standing between a block of luxury flats and a view of the sea have been poisoned. The council is hoping to track down the poisoner - and replace the trees.

The 30-foot trees sit in an exclusive part of Bournemouth: West Cliff Green. They sit on the cliff top, between the flats and Poole Bay, and it would appear someone decided to take matters into their own hands in order to get a better view.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the tops of the trees started to go brown at the end of last year, and as they got worse, locals called the council. Inspectors found that someone had drilled a series of holes in the trunks, and suspected that someone had poured something into the holes in order to kill off the trees.

The Daily Mail reported that council experts said that the poisoning had taken place twice - in two consecutive years - and that there was a good chance that enough damage had been done to kill the trees.

The trees are subject to a Tree Preservation Order, so if the poisoner is found they could be fined up to £20,000.

Tree crimes

This has happened before. In 2014, a doctor in Stone, Staffordshire, was made to pay £4,000 after poisoning three trees in his garden in order to let more light into his house. All three were subject to tree preservation orders, so he had poisoned them in order to get around the rules insisting he could not chop them down if they were healthy.

In the same year, a man who poisoned a tree at a sheltered housing scheme in Fulbourn, South Cambridgeshire, was made to pay £721.20 to have it removed and replaced.

However, the most notorious tree case of recent years was down the road in Poole harbour, where the killing was less subtle than poisoning - and involved a chainsaw. In 2012, a man was made to pay £125,000 for chopping a neighbour's tree down. The tree was blocking the view from his new hot tub and sun deck, and while his neighbour was away on his honeymoon, the tree was mysteriously felled. The courts found him guilty, and he was ordered to pay £125,000 - to account for the increase in the value of his property from his illegal act.