OAK trees, some 100 years old, have been chopped down at a Laindon park to make way for allotments.

Residents are outraged after seeing some of the trees cut down yesterday at Victoria Park.

The trees are being felled and shrubs are being cleared to make way for the allotments and a games area.

But residents claim they were never told which trees were for the chop.

Fred Cox, 52, a tree surgeon of nearby Merrylands, said: “We have spoken to the council and it said the allotments would be right over the other side. It is less than 100 yards away from my property. No one has been told about the oaks coming down.

“It is an established park. It is nice over there.”

Carol Low, 56, of Victoria Road, said: “We are all distraught, absolutely distraught. It has taken our security away, our shade away. People used to jump over our fence. We have no barrier or anything.

“I phoned the council and it said we all requested to have the trees removed. We asked to have them trimmed back. Nobody is moaning about having allotments, but to take every tree away – we don’t understand why they have done it.

“I went to work happy and came home absolutely devastated.”

Jennifer Castle, 63, of Merrylands, Laindon, added: “This morning they were there and they have devastated the whole lot.

“We have lost all our security, all our wildlife. They could have done with a bit of trimming, but no one asked my opinion.

“I was gutted. We were gobsmacked, I am lost for words.”

The work is part of a £220,000 revamp which will create around 100 new plots and a sports area.

In 2008, 100 trees felled on the Five Links estate, Laindon, fuelling protests from residents.