A Marlborough garage owner offering free tree planting has been snubbed by Wiltshire Council.

Jon Horsley, who runs Cadley Garage on the A346 has been running a carbon offset programme which includes giving a free tree for each service he does.

But he says he can’t seem to give them away.

“I have offered to give hundreds of saplings to the council to create an avenue of trees along the Burbage bypass,” he said.

“But the highways people tell me that trees are a potential hazard to motorists who might crash in to them.

“This seems a bit crazy to me, as there are metal posts in the form of road signs on the side of the road as well, and these can’t be any different to a tree.”

He has now been in touch with environmental scientist David Waltham, who, as reported in the Gazette and Herald in January, is trying to encourage land owners to help create a tree corridor between the West Woods and Savernake Forest.

“I estimate that, by making cars last longer and therefore needing replacement less often,” he said.

“Regular car servicing reduces overall greenhouse gas emissions by about the same amount as not driving 500 miles per year.”