AN appeal against council action after a historic woodland was cut down has been quashed.

In July this year, an appeal was lodged against action by Eastleigh Borough Council after an area of historic woodland was torn down in Horton Heath.

Over the weekend beginning April 10, an area of trees at Scorey's Copse, which were said to be around 100 years old, were pulled down by the landowner without prior permission from the authority.

Several of the trees were believed to have Tree Preservation Orders on them, meaning that cannot be cut down without prior approval, but despite this, the wood was piled up and later set alight.

Following this, action was taken by the council against the landowner to demand that all works on the site should stop and no further work could take place without consent from the planning authority.

This action also required the tree waste to be removed and the site to be restored to its previous levels, but an appeal was later lodged by the landowner against this which stated that they were unaware of any Tree Protection Orders on the site.

Despite this though, the authority has now confirmed that the appeal has been dismissed by the planning inspector, with a claim for costs having also been refused.

Now an initial court review is due to take place in December 2021 as part of an ongoing legal process against the owner of the land.

Speaking after the decision to refuse the appeal, the council's cabinet lead for the environment, Cllr Rupert Kyrle, said he was "delighted" with the dismissal.

He added: "Our enforcement, environmental and legal teams worked together to bring about this enforcement that sends a strong message that will simply will not tolerate this sort of flagrant and illegal destruction of our natural environment.”

As part of the Replacement Notice for the site, the council has instructed that 650 trees need to be replanted to replace what was pulled down, but in the appeal, the landowner stated that this number is “unreasonable”, claiming that 242 is considered a more “reasonable” figure.

Eastleigh MP, Paul Holmes has previously said he has "zero sympathy" with the appeal, stating that not knowing what protections were in place for the trees is "not an acceptable excuse".