A highways team felled a city centre tree on New Year's Eve due to persistent rain and strong winds. West Sussex Highways cut down the tree in East Street, Chichester, on December 31 to prevent it from falling down or "failing". The tree has now been chopped to a stump of one to two metres.
The benches surrounding it will be cordoned off until further notice. It came ahead of a yellow warning for strong winds which came into effect at 12.15am on January 1 until 3pm.
The roots of the tree (Image: West Sussex Highways) A spokesman for West Sussex Highways said: "Unfortunately due to recent root heave caused by strong winds and persistent rain, the Acacia Tree outside Holland and Barrett, East Street, Chichester will need to be felled as an emergency on December 31. "These works have been raised as an emergency to ensure the safe use of the street and prevent tree failure onto the busy precinct. "We understand this is a busy time of year and that some inconvenience may be caused and as such have advised our contractors to make safe as soon as possible this morning.
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