Fourteen trees will be cut down in an ancient woodland area near Southampton Airport because they are a ‘danger to the public’.

However, airport bosses have been told by the city council they can’t hack back 25 other trees by cutting off the tops and reducing their height.

Two planning applications about the loss of trees were debated at the latest city council planning meeting.

The first application, submitted by Southampton Airport, aimed to reduce the height of 25, including one Oak by over 13 metres, another by 12, and one Douglas Fir by over 10 metres in the woodland area at the Marlhill Copse in Bitterne Park, a woodland more than 200 years old.

The committee agreed with officers’ recommendation to refuse the application for the trees on the southern side of the airport since it would harm the area.

The second application, submitted this time by the local authority, told of the need to cut 14 trees in the ancient woodland since some suffer from a disease, canopy decline, or other structural issues, representing a risk to the general public.

There have previously been protests at the airport's bid to reduce the trees.

Southampton City Council officers said: “There is ground safety. There are concerns about the conditions of the trees, and they represent a risk for the general public.”

The most significant felling would involve the removal of a large Monterey pine, which is infected by a disease called Phaeolus schweinitzii.

This causes a brown rot that could lead to the tree falling without warning.

Officers said that the safety of visitors to the woodland or the adjoining properties “outweighed” the potential impact on the area’s special character.

However, the fells won’t impact the “special” character of the woodland since the cuts will not be concentrated in a single area and won’t be seen as deforestation.

To fill the loss, officers proposed to plant new Monterey pines, which is the species that dominate the wood, a red oak along with a swamp cypress and a mixture of common yew and hazel to form understory tree planting, with field maples being planted in more open areas.

With much regret, chairman Councillor John Savage said: “This application relies on the expertise of the tree officers.

"With all that taken into account, it is sad that a number of trees will go, but they clearly are diseased, they cause a real problem, and they are unsustainable.”