A CALNE landowner is fuming after a horse chestnut tree on his property was completely destroyed by Wiltshire Council.

A branch from the tree had fallen onto the A4, causing it to be closed in both directions, during the storms on December 30, but Gerald Watts says the reaction was been completely out of proportion.

Mr Watts, 79, of Blacklands Park Farm, Quemerford, said: “They have left such a mess, it looks like a bomb has hit it. They’ve cut the whole tree down when it was a perfectly healthy tree.

“They cut it completely down to a foot from the bottom for no reason at all.

“It really is a case of over the top. They said they had spoken to an expert who decided the tree should come down but there was no need to cut the tree right down.”

Mr Watts said he gave permission for members of the council to enter his land to assess the tree but was stunned to find the entire healthy horse chestnut had got the chop.

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “Following discussion with our contractors and an arboriculturist, this tree was deemed dangerous following damage caused by stormy weather.

"As we didn’t want the tree to cause any further, and potentially serious, incidents for motorists, it was necessary to remove the majority of it.”