Toby Carvery tears down 400-year-old iconic Whitewebbs Park tree in 'criminal damage' probe

Toby Carvery has been slammed by "devastated" locals for tearing down an iconic - as police confirmed a "criminal damage" investigation has been launched. The restaurant chain has come under fire for felling the ancient oak tree, in Whitewebbs Park, north London, on April 3. The tree is located near Whitewebbs House car park, and been assessed as dying and a risk to the public by tree experts employed by the company's owner, Mitchells & Butlers.

Enfield Council reported the matter to the Metropolitan Police, and said it was treating it as criminal damage. It has also put an emergency preservation order in place on the base of the stump. Environmental campaigners and locals decried the felling as "devastating" and compared it to the felling the Sycamore Gap tree in 2023. Mitchells & Butlers defended the decision, saying it acted on the advice of employed tree experts.

But the Woodland Trust has argued that the old tree was still an important habitat, with ancient oaks supporting biodiversity like endangered dead wood beetles.

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Ed Pyne, Woodland Trust senior conservation adviser for trees, said: "This is the most shocking fell I think I've ever seen in more than a decade working with ancient trees. In my view, and the view of many others, this is ecologically much more significant than the Sycamore Gap - and certainly a more irreplaceable tree.

"Ancient oaks are particularly rich in biodiversity with habitats that take centuries to develop. They simply can't be replaced by younger trees and can't be replaced quickly."

He added that the development of decaying tree habitats are a "normal and healthy part of a tree's lifecycle - especially in the ancient phase.

"Some of the biodiversity associated with ancient trees, like the Whitewebbs oak, is amongst the most threatened in Europe," he said.

Ed Allnut, Enfield resident and secretary of the Guardians of Whitewebbs group, said local people wanted justice for the old oak. "The tree belonged to Enfield and to our national heritage. I am personally devastated," he said.

"We want answers, and we want guarantees the other trees here are being protected properly." Ergin Erbil, leader of Enfield Council, said the tree felling occurred on April 3.

"Enfield Council cares deeply about protecting trees and green spaces in the borough," he said. "The council was not informed of this incident until last week. Our teams immediately carried out a full site inspection to assess the damage after receiving reports of the damage done to the tree.

"We are treating the matter as criminal damage and have reported it to the police. We've now placed a legal protection (Tree Preservation Order) on the tree and are looking at ways to help it grow back."

It comes as the Tree Council and Forest Research published a report on Monday, which called for a "robust and effective system" of protections as part of a wider action plan to protect England's most important trees in the wake of the Sycamore Gap tree felling.

A spokesperson for Mitchells & Butlers said: "The tree was cut back after we were advised that it caused a serious health and safety risk.

"This was an essential action to protect our employees and guests, to whom we have a duty of care. Upon further inspection, our specialist arboriculture contractors made the assessment that the split and dead wood posed a serious health and safety risk and advised that the tree was unsafe and should be removed.

"We took every necessary measure to ensure all legal requirements were met. We are grateful to our expert contractors for warning us of this hazard so swiftly, allowing us to act before anyone was harmed."