Plans to fell huge trees near Greenhead Park in Huddersfield have sparked anger in the community.

Residents are protesting at Kirklees Council’s proposal to take the axe to mature trees on Gledholt Road and Gledholt Bank.

One has begun rallying her neighbours to send in complaints to the council’s forestry department.

Sarah Newton, who lives nearby, has vowed to fight the tree removal plan as far as she can.

She has contacted campaigners from Sheffield, who are still at war with their own council over tree felling and have taken to direct action, including blocking workers set to cut the trees down.

“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” she said.

“But we’ve seen what happened in Sheffield and we don’t want it to happen here.”

About nine trees are thought to be at threat near the park, including the landmark tree by the Junction pub off Westbourne Road.

Kirklees Council has said the trees set to be chopped down are causing problems in the highway and they will replace them with new trees.

But Sarah said she didn’t accept the council’s reasoning or the offer to plant saplings in their place.

“It’s just a money saving plan to make resurfacing the pavements easier,” she said.

“These trees have been there a long, long time, 80 to 100 years, and this has caused a lot shock and surprise in the community.

Trees on Gledholt Bank to be cut down by Kirklees.

“There’s been no consultation and people who live right next to them didn’t know anything about it.

“We’re not happy with what the council has said to us so far and we’re going to continue to campaign to keep as many as possible.

“Putting saplings in is no good.

“They will get vandalised and the reason people love these trees is because of their size.”

A Kirklees Council spokesperson said: “The council is supportive of retaining trees wherever possible, and will only make the decision to remove them where this is absolutely necessary.

“We will soon be carrying out resurfacing works on Gledholt Road, and in preparation we planned to remove seven trees and replace them with nine new ones when the work was completed.

“During an inspection we found that three of the trees were damaged and not suitable for retaining, as such these have been taken down.

“Following feedback from local residents we are currently in discussion about plans to remove a further four trees, three of which may need to be removed in order to carry out the resurfacing scheme.

“The fourth is the big tree by the roundabout which currently reduces the pavement width with an impact on pedestrian safety. A proposal for this tree is currently being considered.”

In Sheffield the council has threatened tree campaigners with potential imprisonment and “significant” claims for damages if they do not sign letters committing to ending direct protests for good.

Seventeen people have been involved in action, including standing under trees to stop or delay work, with 14 arrested so far.