COMMUNITY leaders are calling for changes to the law after an historic woodland was torn down without permission.

On Saturday, residents and leaders were left outraged when the owner of an area of woodland at Scoreys Copse, Horton Heath started tearing down trees that have stood for almost 100 years.

No permission had been given for this and despite councillors and officers asking for it to stop, more trees were pulled down and later piled up and set alight.

Trees cut down at Scoreys Copse on Botley Road, Horton Heath. Photo by: Councillor Michelle Marsh.

Tree's cut down at Scoreys Copse on Botley Road, Horton Heath. Photo by: Councillor Michelle Marsh.

Now, ward councillor for Fair Oak and Horton Heath, Cllr Michelle Marsh and Eastleigh MP , Paul Holmes have written to the Secretary of State for the Environment calling for changes to the law.

Cllr Marsh said she thinks enforcement officers need to be given more immediate powers to act, rather than having to wait until a working day when legal teams are present.

She also called for tougher consequences, as she claimed although she told the landowner he would get a fine, he had already “factored that in”.

Thirdly, the councillor asked for a form of ban to be created on the development of land if developers knowingly take down trees with tree preservation orders in place.

She said: “I think that powers need to be increased nationally where developers are deliberately taking down tree’s where there are tree preservation orders.

“We should have been able to issue a stop order on the Saturday morning and put a stop to it but we had to wait until last night to get that.”

Trees cut down at Scoreys Copse on Botley Road, Horton Heath Police attending the incident at Scoreys Copse on Botley Road, Horton Heath. Photo by: Councillor Michelle Marsh.

Tree's cut down at Scoreys Copse on Botley Road, Horton Heath Police attending the incident at Scoreys Copse on Botley Road, Horton Heath. Photo by: Councillor Michelle Marsh.

MP, Paul Holmes added that the tree clearance left him and many residents “horrified”.

“I’d like to see more severe penalties available for those who break the law in this way, especially repeat offenders like the person responsible for this incident.”

Eastleigh Borough Council has now issued a stop notice on the land, meaning that any further work is prohibited for 28 days whilst legal teams work on additional action.

A council spokesperson said: “We will simply will not tolerate this sort of flagrant and illegal destruction of our natural environment.”