Hefty fine for Kings Sutton man who felled trees without permission
05/02/2026
The Yew trees were on land owned by Oxfordshire County Council
A King’s Sutton man has been fined for unlawfully chopping down trees in Adderbury.
Graham Evans, aged 60, felled seven yew trees on East End Lane.
Officers from Cherwell District Council visited the quiet lane in the village on Monday June 30 last year, after the incident was reported to them.
Evans failed to attend an interview under caution and didn’t cooperate with the council’s investigation.
The trees were within Adderbury Conservation Area and growing on Oxfordshire County Council highway land. They were of a size granting them legal protections.
Evans pleaded guilty to the offences at a hearing at Reading Magistrates’ Court last Friday (January 30) and was ordered to pay £7,200 in fines and costs.
Councillor Jean Conway, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Development Management, said: “The district’s trees are so important to biodiversity, our landscape heritage and to our resilience to climate change. When works do need to be carried out on trees, there is a proper and professional way to go about it, which we can assist with.
“In this instance, the offender not only failed to seek permission but refused to cooperate with our investigation. That’s why we sought a prosecution, and this is a pleasing result which I hope deters others from cutting down trees without permission.”
People can apply to the council to lawfully undertake works on larger trees found in conservation areas, but in this case Evans hadn’t.
Council arborists confirmed that, had permission been sought to cut down the yew trees, they would have refused and instead placed a Tree Preservation Order on them.
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
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