RESIDENTS have hit out at a company after it chopped down trees without warning.

Householders complained to local councillors after storage company Space Makers felled 12 trees at its site in Ipswich Road.

The trees, which were mainly silver birch, were removed last Sunday. They were not protected by tree preservation orders.

However, Colchester Council is checking the conditions of planning permissions for the site.

Paul Smith, ward councillor for St John’s, said: “It seems very poor that the environment should have been damaged in such a needless way.

“As a council, we have been responsible for planting 50,000 trees in Colchester, so for a company to take down a series of trees without warning on one of the main gateways to the town is very disappointing.”

Jonas Witt, a spokesman for Space Makers, said the trees had been felled for a number of reasons, including improving visibility for vehicles entering and leaving the site.

He added: “We still have a large number of trees in the grounds and we will be planting replacement saplings within the grounds in the spring, as we are fully committed to the environment.”