Grantham bird enthusiast ‘heartbroken’ after plants cut down in Londonthorpe Woods

A bird enthusiast was left ‘heartbroken’ after he saw hedging was removed from woodland.

Dave Roberts, of Grantham, discovered on Monday (July 29) that blackthorns had been removed from a section in Londonthorpe Woods.

“I was heartbroken when I saw it,” said Dave.

He added: “This is a favoured spot for garden warblers and other warblers which come back to the same spot, although there is more habitat nearby, to breed from Africa each year.

“They [the Woodland Trust] should know better. If this was essential work then it could have waited.”

A Woodland Trust spokesperson said it was cut down for “essential safety works”.

The spokesperson added: “We had to carry out essential safety works on site during this dry weather to tackle a flooding issue and unfortunately this meant having to remove a small section of hedging which will regrow in time.

“We had carried out extensive checks that there were no nesting birds affected.”