Residents in a Shropshire town say they are furious after their social housing company chopped down a tree containing nesting birds and bats.
Crowds gathered as contractors started cutting down tree with neighbouring resident Shay Hicks saying it had caused "devastation". "There were baby birds all over the back garden. There was seven magpies lined up on the fence, swopping down ripping them to pieces.According to the RSPB, it is not illegal to cut down trees, but it is against the law to knowingly cut down tree or a hedge when it contains nesting birds.Residents Ozzy Osborne and Diane Lyle said they were shocked by what they saw and said it was "wrong".
Sara Woodall, from Connexus, said staff had acted when they got reports of anti-social behaviour and rat activity at an unoccupied house in Sandpits Avenue."We asked our contractors to take the tree down and deal with the vegetation that was overgrown," she said.