Felled Shropshire trees discussed in House of Lords

Tree expert Rob McBride, from Ellesmere, was invited to speak at a reception hosted by Baroness Jenny Jones.

It follows a petition started by Mr McBride's friend, Janis Fry, to introduce new legislation to protect Britain's ancient yew trees which has gained more than 222,000 signatures.

He spoke about the ancient Yew at Ashford Carbonell churchyard in south Shropshire that was felled controversially in 2011 and the other, more recently felled Yew tree at Quinta Evangelical Church in Weston Rhyn, near Oswestry.

Mr McBride, who founded TREEspect CIC, said: "These important trees are links to our heritage and past. Some maybe 4,000-years-old, some may even be older. Without trees we would have died years ago and our country has been built on trees. We need to save them.

"The tree in Ashford Carbonell was about 2,000 years old. It's heartbreaking to see it being chopped down. The one in the Quinta was nowhere near as old - I counted the rings and it is about 200-years-old but it was still an important tree. Yew trees can essentially live forever."

The event, which was also attended by North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson, was a step in the right direction, according to Mr McBride.

He wants to see yew trees protected under legislation.

"This has gained cross-party support from politicians and obviously the petition was very successful, so I hope it keeps growing," he added.

"Now we are going to look how we can get it into existing legislation."