FUMING locals think a tree toppled during Storm Eunice was actually hacked down by a chainsaw-wielding “maniac” neighbour – after it was discovered surrounded by sawdust

Neighbours were troubled by the toppled tree being left in the middle of the road.

People living in Welwyn Garden City, Herts, believe an opportunist hacked the “unwanted” tree down and tried to pass it off as the fault of the storm’s wild 122 mph winds.

One local, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "What kind of chainsaw-wielding maniac goes out looking to play lumberjack when there's a red storm warning?

"It's obvious they wanted the tree gone and thought we'd all be too stupid to notice the clean cut marks and the mountain of sawdust."

Another neighbour said: "I noticed it Friday night at around half ten, elevenish.

"It had definitely come down that day. It wasn't like that when I left to go to work in the morning.

"The next morning I went and had an investigation, where I spotted it was clean cut, sawdust all over the floor and the tree is in the middle of the road, lying there."

The 53-year-old continued: "You can't just chop a tree down and leave it in the middle of the road – it's just unacceptable.

"It could've fallen into someone's house, it could've gone into someone's motor.

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"There's been maybe eight or nine near car accidents just because of that and, for me, it's unacceptable.

"I don't want to wake up, walk out the front door and see someone lying dead halfway through their windscreen because someone's chopped a tree down."

They added: "I think they took advantage of the adverse weather conditions because there's trees coming down left, right and centre.”

But suspicion was raised when “not even a branch” came loose in that particular area of Herts.

Another local noted: "People's hanging baskets and all that are still there. We've got some big trees round here and they're unaffected.

"It's a bit of a liberty to try to palm it off as 'the wind has done it' and leave it in the middle of the road."

Photos and videos from the scene show a police road closure in place.

The cut in the tree can also be clearly seen, as well as a large amount of sawdust.

A spokesperson for Hertfordshire Police said there was nothing on their logs to suggest a crime had been committed, and declined to comment further.

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, which maintains trees in the area, confirmed it had not been felled by them.

A spokesperson said: "Our tree officers have inspected the site and it appears that someone other than the council has felled the tree.

"The details have been passed on to Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) for them to clear."

Asked for comment, a HCC spokesperson confirmed only that the road had now been cleared.

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