London borough seeking legal advice after 500-year-old oak tree felled

Enfield Council is seeking legal advice after an ancient oak tree on land leased to restaurant chain Toby Carvery was chopped down earlier this month.

The London borough said it believed the decision had broken the terms of the lease, adding that it is therefore seeking advice on potential legal action.

The council was not informed of the tree felling until last week, despite the tree being cut down on 3 April.

The tree stood behind a car park attached to a Toby Carvery restaurant in Whitewebbs Park, London, and could be up to 500 years old.

In addition, the council has placed a Tree Preservation Order on the tree, and is looking for ways to regrow the ancient oak.

In a follow-up statement issued today (16 April), the leader of the council, Cllr Ergin Erbil, said he was "outraged" that the leaseholder decided to remove the tree without first seeking permission or advice from the council.

He said the council had evidence that the tree was starting to grow new spring leaves when the action was taken, adding that a council team had checked the tree in December 2024 and found it was healthy and posed no risks to the neighbouring car park or its users.

"The police are treating it as a civil matter but we will continue to take appropriate legal action", Cllr Erbil said.

He added: "As the land owner we believe this action has broken the terms of the lease which requires Toby Carvery to maintain and protect the existing landscape.

"The tree was the oldest one on site and cutting it down seems to be a clear breach of this condition."

"We're therefore seeking advice and will take appropriate legal action. If any criminal activity is found during our investigation, we will not hesitate to report this to the police again.

"As the tree shows clear signs of life we will also do everything we can to help the tree regrow."

Head of campaigning at the Woodlands Trust, Adam Cormack, said the tree's loss was "devastating" and called for legal protection for ancient trees in the UK.

He said: "It's very unusual to see the felling of an oak tree of this size and age.

"Legally protected status for heritage trees like the Whitewebbs Oak is long overdue. This issue has widespread public support and is an open goal for the government to act upon."

Toby Carvery has been approached for comment.

A spokesperson for Mitchells & Butler, owner of the chain, said: "The tree was cut back after we were advised by our specialist arboriculture contractors that it caused a potential health and safety risk.

"This was an important action to protect our employees and guests as well as the wider general public, to whom we have a duty of care.

"We took necessary measures to ensure any legal requirements were met. We are grateful to our specialist arboriculture contractors for warning us of this potential health and safety risk, allowing us to act swiftly to address it."

In a letter published Thursday (17 April), Mitchells & Butlers CEO, Phil Urban, apologised for the "upset" caused by the felling, adding that: "As a business and, more importantly, as human beings, we are obliged to act on all health & safety issues where expert advice warns us of a direct risk to life or serious injury. The penalties, legally, financially and more importantly, emotionally, for failing to do that, when something subsequently happens, are too great to contemplate. 

"That is why our internal processes allow for such work to be fast-tracked and bypass any bureaucracy to ensure corrective action is taken swiftly."

 Adam Carey