The felling of trees in Green Lane, Bradford, has sparked a wave of protest from people who say the street’s character is being ruined.

They include Kevin Holland, the head of Green Lane Primary School in Manningham, who said that the trees made the name of the street.

And he has criticised social housing group Incommunities for carrying out the work without any consultation with the community.

In response, Incommunities has insisted that more than half the trees on the site will be retained and new ones will be planted.

Mr Holland said he had begged it to stop at a Manningham Masterplan Board meeting on Tuesday night.

“But after that meeting the tree cutting actually escalated,” said Mr Holland yesterday.

“They intend cutting down up to 30 trees and my main concern was about the trees fronting the avenue of Green Lane and they have taken them down this morning.

“Those trees, maple and mountain ash, make Green Lane. I think they are doing it so they don’t have an issue with the planners.

“There are no Tree Preservation Orders on the trees. I am very upset about it and disappointed that no-one is listening to the views of many members of the community. We need to be working in partnership in our community.”

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, the executive member for employment, said: “We had a well-attended meeting at Manningham Masterplan Board.

“At my request Incommunities attended as I was keen for the board to be given sight of the plans, given the recent activity on Green Lane.

“Board members were supportive of the site being used for housing.

“However the plans and the configuration of the houses on it have not yet been approved therefore I asked Incommunities at the meeting if they could halt the tree-felling pending discussions with planning.

“From yesterday’s activity it’s obvious that there has been no let-up in the tree-felling which has really disappointed me.”

Jez Lester, assistant chief executive, asset management at Incommunities, said: “In preparation for the planned construction of a development of much-needed family-sized homes we have had to remove some trees on the boundary of this Incommunities-owned site.

“However, more than half the trees on the site are being retained. Many of these are being pruned to ensure their future preservation. Our proposals include planting new trees in the gardens of all the new homes.”