Campaigners have protested a council's felling of a 132-year-old tree.

A group of activists attended an event yesterday on London Road in Canterbury, where the London Plane specimen was among a number of trees removed over the weekend.

One of those present played Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World on the violin, as tree surgeons tore down other mature examples along the avenue.

A petition was launched a week ago in an attempt to stop the cutting down of the so-called Tree T5 but - despite garnering 1,087 supporters - it proved futile.

Kent County Council is carrying out the removals to improve the road's pavements, which have become cracked and raised by roots breaking through.

Speaking last week, KCC spokesman Thom Morris said: "The pavement has become a significant issue for pedestrians and mobility-impaired users due to the impact of the large London Plane trees which have narrowed its width and lifted the surface to intolerable gradients and uneven ground.

"We have tried to be as sympathetic as possible to engineer around all of the trees where physically possible and achieved a design which retains all but one of the trees.

"This tree is so large that we were unable to navigate around it."

He also assured KentOnline that replacement trees will be planted nearby.

London Road has been closed while work - being carried out in two phases - has taken place, with the second stage of the operation being carried out from Friday, October 18 to Monday, October 28.

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