Campaigners who raised tens of thousands of pounds to purchase a beloved wood has condemned the town council for its plans to fell and lop trees.

Friends of Becky Addy Wood (FROBAW) raised £30,000 to enable Bradford Town Council, which contributed £7,000, to purchase the woodland.

The town council claims it is acting in the public interest for safety reasons to fell and lop ash trees infected by the deadly ash dieback disease and other trees.

But FROBAW said there was "no justification on public safety grounds for this destruction of the natural environment".

"The town council is squandering tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money and has not answered questions about how much the proposed work will cost."

A spokesperson for the group said that it and the council signed an agreement giving "shared responsibility for managing the wood", and accused the town council of "repeatedly" flouting it.

"It has sidelined FROBAW and has needlessly felled and monolithed 19 trees, causing irreparable damage," the spokesperson added.

"A further 58 irreplaceable ancient woodland trees are now condemned.

“In two independent tree surveys, a leading national tree expert concluded that none of the felling is necessary for public safety.

“The council makes the spurious claim that is motivated by public safety considerations. Its initial justification was a demonstrably flawed and inaccurate survey done at the wrong time of the year."

The spokesperson went on: “The truth is that it is causing unacceptable destruction of ancient woodland and wildlife habitat, disturbing and risking driving away the very rare Bechstein’s bat, already at risk of extinction locally."

In response, Bradford on Avon mayor, Cllr Katie Vigar said the council's work reflects advice from Natural England and the Forestry Commission.

She added: “Tree safety works in Becky Addy Wood are not only in the interest of public safety, but the long term health of the woodland.

“The town council’s approach to looking after the trees in the woodland is that no tree is worked on simply because it has ash dieback or to stop the spread of the disease.

“The town council is considering the risk posed by trees along the public footpath. No safety works are taking place in the rest of the wood where there is no public access. 

“Before contractors do any work, trees are individually inspected on the day by an expert arborist and ecologist working together. This approach means that only essential work takes place with minimal disruption to wildlife. As far as possible, only limited sections of trees are removed."