Work will begin this week to remove several trees following an ongoing outbreak of elm disease.

Brighton and Hove City Council will remove the trees on Peacock Lane near Withdean Park, Brighton.

It needs to remove approximately 30 larger elm trees on the western half of the road to prevent the disease from spreading.

It will also be removing several smaller elms which have grown from infected roots.

The council has been trying to protect its 17,000-strong collection of elms including the largest and oldest surviving English elm in Europe.

Last summer 850 trees were felled as part of the fight to control elm disease.

The council has written to and met with residents in the area to let them know about the work, which is expected to take around three weeks.

Removing these trees now gives the council the best chance of protecting thousands more of the city’s elms.

A drone image of an elm tree​ (Image: BHCC)

In June the council’s arboriculture team began using a drone to help survey the elm trees. It said it provides a cost-effective way of helping it manage any possible spread.

Once finished, it will assess the remaining canopy cover and plan to plant some replacement trees from more diverse species to ensure greater resilience in the future.

Elm bark beetles breed in the bark of cut, diseased or weakened elm trees. The disease then causes the tree to wilt and die.

Elm disease is spread by:

·       fungi transferred from diseased to healthy elms by elm bark beetles,

·       the disease being transferred underground between trees through the roots, or

·       new trees growing from infected fragments following the removal of a diseased tree

Councillor Alan Robins cabinet member for sport and recreation said: “This is very sad news. Having to remove these trees is never an easy decision for our arboriculture team to make.

“We’re very proud of the city’s elm collection and are doing what we can to protect it. We ask residents to only buy wood for log burners and stoves if they know it is not elm wood.”

Anyone concerned about an elm tree can email: elmdisease@brighton-hove.gov.uk