Tory who had 110 trees felled in the middle of the night 'lives on a tree-lined street'

Plymouth City Council leader Richard Bingley has signed an order to cut down trees on a street half a mile from his home despite objections from residents premises

Plymouth City Council Leader Richard Bingley (

Image: Matt Gilley/PlymouthLive)

A Tory councilor who sparked outrage after ordering the felling of more than 100 downtown trees in the middle of the night, ironically, lives on a posh tree-lined street.

Plymouth City Council leader Richard Bingley signed an order to cut down trees as part of a multi-million pound redevelopment scheme earlier this week.

This despite the local authority having suspended plans for the £12.7million project due to objections from residents.

But after Cllr Bingley gave the go-ahead on Tuesday March 14, contractors arrived within hours and began cutting down trees on Armada Way in the center of Naval Town.

They even put up fencing while security and police officers patrolled with dogs.

At 1am on Wednesday March 15, a court injunction was obtained to arrest them, but by then they had already felled 110 trees.

Have you been affected by this issue? Let us know at webnews@mirror.co.uk

The real scale of the felling of trees at Armada Way (

Picture:

Plymouth Live/BPM)

As workers revved up their chainsaws, residents gathered and began chanting in protest.

Reports Cllr Bingley has a five-bed townhouse in the town in a quiet, leafy street half a mile from the site.

His £450,000 property, bought last year, also has a park at the end of his road.

Neighbor Danny Laine told the outlet: "I think it's shocking what happened at Armada Way. Part of Plymouth's uniqueness is the connection to nature.