COUNCILLORS have refused to allow a sycamore tree to be chopped down after their officer rejected claims that is unhealthy and in danger of falling.

Trevor Hutchinson had asked Durham County Council to overturn a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) the authority put on the sycamore in the grounds of Staindrop Hall on Front Street, Staindrop, in 2012.

But the council’s planning committee decided to uphold the TPO after tree officer Rodger Lowe said it was a healthy specimen.

The sycamore is one of the few remaining trees in the grounds after plans for two houses to be built there were previously approved.

Consultant ecologist Stuart Johnson, who surveyed the tree at Mr Hutchinson’s request, said the sycamore was infested with aphids and showed signs of tar spots which he claimed would lead to its long term decline.

He also said branch removal work which would have to be done in order to build the houses would leave the tree, which is already leaning, unstable and potentially cause it to fall.

The ecologist also said Mr Hutchinson would replace the sycamore tree, which has a life expectancy of around 30 years, with two young oaks which could last hundreds of years.

But Mr Lowe said the tree was in good health and there is no evidence of it being unstable, adding the lean has not got worse for a number of years.

He said: “Almost every tree in the county has aphids and tar spots, they are completely irrelevant to the health of the tree.”

Eleven councillors supported the TPO being kept in place, while Barnard Castle East councillor George Richardson voted against it.