Ignoring tree preservation orders can prove to be a very expensive mistake and if your property has a protected tree on it, you should make sure any order is understood and followed and any necessary permissions obtained. Felling a protected tree without permission is a criminal offence.

Recently, a man who took a chainsaw to eleven protected trees in order to increase the free space and light in his back garden (and thereby to increase the value of his property) found himself in court.

Concluding that he had ignored the orders with impunity, the court ruled that a proceeds of crime order be made to confiscate the value added to the property by the removal of the trees and directed that he pay a fine and other costs.

The man was ordered to pay a total of £170,000.