IT stood in the Fair Oak churchyard for 142 years - but it only took a matter of days for it to disappear.

The yew tree planted as a sapling when St Thomas Church was built in 1864 was a landmark to residents all around the village.

But now a bitter row has erupted after rebellious church bosses chopped it down without vital permission from their superiors.

Outraged Fair Oak residents, many of who used to play around the tree as children, are claiming the controversial plans were sneaked through without proper consultation.

Some parishioners have even sent "poison pen" letters to the vicar Rev David Snuggs and anonymously telephoned other members of the council expressing their rage about the shock tree felling.

Members of the St Thomas' Church council voted to chop down the tree for safety reasons and because they thought paedophiles could hide behind it.

The work was carried out five days after the decision was made - without the necessary permission from the diocese of Winchester.

One campaigner said: "It was like a wall of silence."

Some residents believe the church council knew villagers would oppose the plan but had the tree chopped anyway.

Derek Cole, 59, said the idea had been suggested several times in the past including once when he was a member of the council. He said: "The majority were against it so we stopped it that time."

Now Christopher Clark QC, chancellor for the diocese of Winchester, will investigate why the church council failed to apply for a faculty, the religious equivalent of planning permission.

He will also decide if permission would have been granted if the council had applied.

But whatever he decides the yew can never be returned to the Fair Oak treescape.

Joan Owen, 81, of Mortimers Lane, Fair Oak, said: "It was a historical landmark for the village. People are appalled.

"Paedophiles are not a reason to cut down a very old tree."

Husband and ex-councillor Geoffrey Owen added: "Yew trees have always been synonymous with churches."

A spokesman for the diocese of Winchester said: "The opinion is that this requires a Confirmatory Faculty - which is akin to retrospective planning permission."

Rev Snuggs, who has been vicar at the 142-year-old church since 1996, claimed just three of the yew tree's poisonous berries would be enough to kill a child.

He said Ofsted reports had told teachers at two playschools who use the church grounds to warn children not to eat the deadly fruits of the tree.

He said: "The distress and hassle I'm experiencing now is preferable to taking a child's funeral. We were not aware permission was needed to fell the tree.

"We have been saddened by the distress of some folk, but even more saddened by the anonymous telephone calls and poison-pen letters. The vicar and church council hold to the view that people are more important than trees."

A spokesman for Eastleigh Borough Council confirmed there was no tree protection order protecting the yew.

Residents will have a chance to comment on the controversial tree surgery after a meeting of the Diocesan Advisory Committee planned for Wednesday, February 11.