THE chairman of Ilkley's Design Statement Group has been left red-faced after contractors pruned two cherry trees in the garden of his home.

The problem for Wilfred Shaw was that his home in St Nicholas Road is within the boundary of the Middleton Conservation Area, and permission is needed from council officials before tree pruning can be carried out.

The work was done while Mr Shaw was on holiday but a council official spotted the contractors and the matter is now being investigated.

Mr Shaw became chairman of the conservation group in April last year at the same time as the Middleton Conservation Area was created.

A Bradford Council spokesperson said: "We are currently looking into this situation. The usual procedure for felling or carrying out works to trees in conservation areas is that someone notifies us of their intentions and we then have six weeks to consider the plans.

"In this instance, we did not receive any notification of intention to carry out works to these trees. We believe that in this case two trees have been pruned.

"A council tree officer who was in the vicinity visited the site while work was in progress and challenged the contractor, who we believe carried out the work.

"Council officers are currently investigating this case but it is too early to pre-judge the outcome.

"Penalties for unlawful tree work vary greatly depending on the nature and circumstances of the case and it is for the courts to decide. However, the law says that the maximum penalty for unlawful pruning is £2,000 per tree."

Mr Shaw said that the trees were only about 12-feet high and were pruned regularly as part of good arboreal practice to keep them in shape.

He told the Gazette that he did not know about the need to ask permission to prune the trees and would contact Bradford Council for retrospective permission. He said Bradford Council had not made householders aware of the regulations.

Mr Shaw said: "We have just continued what we have always done. They do the little cherries every other year.

"It is good arboreal practice to prune trees you have got to keep them in shape. Do they (Bradford Council officials) expect everyone to apply to prune their trees - they would never cope with that.

"There must be some limit with the size of the trees. How does everybody know if I don't? How do other members of the public know?"