Going, going, gone! These towering trees beside a Shropshire beauty spot have been chopped down – despite calls from campaigners to save them.

The beech trees next to The Mere, in Ellesmere, were deemed ‘unsafe’ by officials at Shropshire Council. By the end of today both were due to be little more than stumps after more than a century on the banks of the lake.

Rob McBride, a tree enthusiast and Ellesmere resident who is better known as Shropshire’s ‘tree hunter’, said he was sad to see them go.

He said: “These trees were major landscape features and heritage trees so I’m sad to see them go.

“There are council reports saying these trees were 80 years old, but I think it’s more like 120 years old.

“Other agencies like the National Trust have been ‘monolithing’ their trees instead of removing them because that way you get to keep a great natural wildlife habitat for many years.”

Under the ‘monolithing’ procedure, trees lose their crown and top branches but retain about 15 feet of trunk, enabling them to remain part of the habitat without being completely removed, he added.

The council’s tree safety team recommended the Ellesmere trees for removal after it emerged the roots had been damaged.

At an Ellesmere Town Council meeting in June, members claimed the trees had become unsafe after being damaged by contractors working on the multi-million pound revamp of The Mere several years ago.

It raised fears the trees could topple over, flattening the Boathouse restaurant or blocking the A495. The town council backed the removal of the trees, but said it did so ‘with great sadness’.

Mr McBride added: “The damage was caused because errors were made with the supervision of the contractors during The Mere revamp four or five years ago.”

Contractors working at the site yesterday were taking the trees away piece by piece as they could not be felled in the normal way due to their location.

Shropshire Council is proposing to replace the trees with another beech tree and a weeping willow.