It has stood for more than 150 years and weathered countless storms, but today the Old Man of Kent was finally cut down.

Standing at 51 metres, the Grand Fir was the county's tallest and a popular attraction at the Bedgebury Pinetum, a 350 acre estate near Goudhurst containing rare and endangered trees from across five continents.

Mark Clixby, recreation manager at Forestry Commission Bedgebury, said a recent survey of the tree found disease and significant storm damage.

Earlier he said: "The Old Man of Kent is over 150 years old and like anything it has come to the end of its life. For safety reasons we thought it best for it to be felled."

Planted in 1840 by Viscount Marshall Beresford, former owner of the Bedgebury estate the tree native to America's Pacific coast and the Rocky Mountains.

It was first discovered by David Douglas in 1825 and introduced to Britain five years later. Grand Fir seeds have been planted across the pinetum to replace others of the same species reaching the end of their lives.