A “ludicrous” suggestion to chop down a row of eight trees in an effort to improve safety on a danger road has been rubbished by council chiefs.

Traffic experts mooted the idea of axing the trees lining a 200-metre stretch of Canterbury's St George’s Place between the former Odeon and Waitrose.

They believed their removal would help increase visibility along the road where two pedestrians - former university lecturer Anne Seller and student Samuel Lewis - lost their lives in November 2020.

But the suggestion from RGP transport consultants has been rebuffed by Kent County Council following a public backlash.

In response to the felling proposal, the authority’s head of highway and transportation said: “It is our opinion that the trees play an important role for the area and as such any removal would not be supported.”

KCC’s dismissal of the idea has been met with relief from campaigners.

Labour councillor Connie Nolan said: “It’s very welcome news, it was such a ludicrous idea. People are fed up with the thinking that chopping down trees is a solution to a problem.

“Everyone knows the trees are not an issue along that road. So many people were outraged by the plan.

“I’m very glad KCC sees that and they won’t be coming down. It would be a knee-jerk and pointless thing to do.

“With it being such a hot summer, there’s a bigger realisation of the work mature trees do for us by giving shade.”

RGP is the traffic consultant firm helping form road safety improvements in the city as part of the huge 4,000-home Mountfield Park scheme between New Dover Road and Bridge.

'Everyone knows the trees are not an issue along that road...'

It suggested uprooting the trees in St George’s Place - which were planted in 1998 by the Kentish Gazette - in the belief it “would improve road safety for vulnerable road users”.

“There appears to be a pattern with regards to the impact of the height and width of the trees and landscaping within the central reserve obscuring the visibility for drivers approaching the pedestrian crossing which has resulted in an increase in accident rate and a worsening of the injury severity,” it stated in a report.

Over in the nearby Upper Chantry Lane, there are plans to install a mini roundabout at the convergence with Dover Street, outside the Old City Bar pub, in an effort to improve traffic flow.

Street, outside the Old City Bar pub, in an effort to improve traffic flow.