A QUIET country lane near Aberystwyth was the scene of a heated row last week after a resident poisoned a tree near her home because it was “not native” to Britain.

Isobelle McGuinness and Megan Meredith, residents of Lluest, a narrow lane off Primrose Hill, were left stunned when they discovered their neighbour, Elizabeth Lee, had drilled holes and injected unknown chemicals into the trunk of a sycamore tree.

The tree, which is on land owned by Aberystwyth University, has now started to die, and Mrs McGuinness and Mrs Meredith say they are fearful the tree could fall on equine students going to and from the university’s Lluest Equine Centre.

The pair also fear the chemical used could pose a health hazard to people and animals.

Mrs Meredith said: “She was out injecting something into the tree and she had a face mask on, which caused me some concern as to what chemical she was using.

“It could fall down and hit the wall, and people take horses down the path. We don’t know how long it will take to die and fall down.”

Mrs Lee, who is a retired social worker, admitted she did not like sycamores because they were not a native species.

But she claimed she was within her rights to kill the tree because it was so close to their house, and because the couple had previously paid the university to rid the area of sycamores.

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