Residents in a block of flats were furious to discover a 70-year-old tree had been chopped down without their being consulted.

The 40ft tulip tree had stood outside Withdean Court, off Varndean Road, Brighton, since the flats were built in the Thirties.

Its top branches reached the roof of the four-storey building, giving residents on the upper floors a stunning view of gold and bronze foliage in autumn.

In spring, the tree, a member of the magnolia family, would be covered in pinky-yellow flowers which looked like tulip heads.

But after giving pleasure to residents and passers-by for seven decades, it was felled in less than two hours by contractors working for the building's new freeholder.

Leasehold owners of the flats had always believed the tree was protected by Brighton and Hove City Council and could not be cut down without them being consulted.

Resident Susan Deasy said: "We all thought the tree was the subject of a protection order but when my mother got on to the council, they told her it was not.

"A lady who lives here said she had been assured the tree would be put on the protected list by the council when she was a member of the residents association several years ago "

Ms Deasy said the residents were angry freeholder Edenbrook Enterprise had not told them of its plans.

She said: "They have been very sneaky about it. A man came the day before it was cut down and asked us to keep parking space free because he had to move some equipment in.

"When one of the residents asked what for, he said they were doing some roofing. The next day we found out the tree was being cut down.

"This has upset an awful lot of people here. It was a symbol, a big feature of Withdean Court and something we had all grown to love."

A spokesman for Bradford and Bingley - Geering and Colyer, which manages Withdean Court on behalf of Edenbrook Enterprise, said: "This was arranged by the freeholder because apparently this tree was deemed to be structurally too close to the building."

A council spokesman confirmed the tree was not protected.

She said: "This is unfortunate because if the residents had known what was going to happen, they could have contacted us and we would have gone and at least had a look and may have been able to put a temporary preservation order on it.

"It is sad this did not happen but unfortunately the council has no powers to do anything now."