Campaigners who fought to save the mature trees on the site of a new supermarket have lamented their felling.

Aldi removed two large poplars, thought to be more than 100 years old, from the car park of the former Co-op store in Park Avenue on Saturday.

It marks the start of the supermarket’s demolition programme to make way for a brand new store which is hoped to open by the end of the year.

Simon Phillips of Dover and Deal Green Party said: “We were very sad to see four big living protectors of our air being cut down on Saturday.

“We note that if they had been left a week or so longer then birds might have started nesting, and the law says, Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), it is illegal to destroy an active nest.

“A nest is active from the moment the first material is laid, until the chicks have fledged.”

The campaigners, who held ‘tree love-ins’ and tied messages of support to the trees, argued it would be a “farce” to remove the healthy specimens because of their importance to the area and health benefits they offer.

They started two petitions collecting a total of 250 signatures and were delighted when the company’s original application was rejected by Dover District Council in September last year.

But the German chain maintained that the trees had to go because their roots were growing through the tarmac. Instead, in a planning application that was agreed in December, it put forward a £15,000 contribution towards planting trees elsewhere in Deal.

Christine Oliver of Dover and Deal Green Party added: “We will be keeping a close eye on Aldi to see they live up to their promises fully as regards replacement mature tree planting, electric charging points in the bigger car park and high BREEAM building standards.

“We also welcome Aldi in the hope they will be a sustainable supermarket in terms of cheap, healthy food and plastic-free packaging.”

Hoardings are now in place to allow the safe demolition of the current building and other preparation works.

Aldi says new planting and extensive landscaping works will take place before the store opens.