Campaigners have lost their battle to save a 100-year-old cherry tree from the chop.

The tree won a stay of execution before Christmas when people living nearby staged a demo against its removal.

But it was finally felled yesterday to make way for a 45-flat development on the site of a former hospital in Temple Gardens, Brighton.

The tree captured the imagination of residents in surrounding streets.

They thought it would be saved and its destruction by tree surgeons came as a bitter blow.

Granville Wilcock, 60, a retired teacher, of Norfolk Terrace, said: "It really is a case of a company riding roughshod over public opinion.

"If there is a silver lining to this, we have found a new sense of community because of the loss of our tree."

The tree, which residents claim was the third to be cut down on the site, was the subject of a preservation order.

But because developers promised to replace it with three cherry trees, the council gave the go-ahead for its removal.

Experts had decided it would be unlikely to survive damage to its roots during building work.