THE fate of a much loved willow tree has caused a rift between housing developers and residents of a village near York.

The Storm family, who live in Main Street, Appleton Roebuck, were horrified to discover that the large willow tree in their hedgerow boundary was being chopped down by men working on the neighbouring building site.

Rachel Storm, 18, was so distraught when she was woken by the sound of chainsaws that she quickly threw clothes on top of her pyjamas and staged an impromptu protest by sitting in the tree.

She was backed by her mother Susan, who parked the family Land Rover near the tree, but their efforts were in vain.

The developers, Larklands Ltd, who are building three houses on the site to the rear of The Maltings, in Main Street, say they have done nothing wrong - in fact permission was granted by Selby District Council for the removal of the willow tree.

But the Storms are unhappy that they were not notified of the felling in advance and they say there is still a question mark over the ownership of the tree, which they believe belonged to them.

Michael Storm said: "Why weren't we told what they were going to do? Why did the council not establish ownership of the tree?

"We are angry. It was a beautiful tree and it had a natural bowl in it that the kids used as a house when they were little."

Rachel Storm said she had played in the willow tree as a child, along with her sister Caroline.

She said: "It's so unbelievably sad. This was a wonderful tree and it held so many memories for all of us."

Trevor Phillips, chairman of Appleton Roebuck parish council, said: "The parish council are absolutely appalled that the Storms were neither consulted about nor informed of the decision to cut down the tree, which they have believed to be on their land for over 50 years. It's disgraceful, especially given Appleton Roebuck's conservation area status."

However, David Critchley, a director of Wentworth Ltd, which successfully applied for planning permission for the development before handing the job to Larklands Ltd, a separate company headed by Brian White, said nobody had done anything wrong.

He said his company gave notice to Selby District Council to remove the tree and was granted permission. He said a copper beech tree would be planted in its place.

Mr Critchley said: "The inspector came out to see it and said it was all right to take it down because it was in bad repair. It was rotten through and through and could have been dangerous."

The council confirmed that permission was granted for the tree's removal and that no consultation with neighbours was required.

The spokesman also confirmed that the council is not required to check that the applicant owns the tree in question.

Updated: 10:32 Wednesday, October 20, 2004