A ROW has broken out in a village over plans to fell a 200-year-old yew tree.

Residents in Cleasby, near Darlington, are furious that work has already started to pull down the tree, without any consultation.

The village hall committee authorised a worker to start felling the yew on Monday, but he had to stop following an angry confrontation with villagers.

They contacted the council to voice their concerns about the tree, which is in the grounds of the village hall car park.

Richmondshire District Council has issued an emergency preservation order on the yew because of the strong feelings in the village.

A spokeswoman for the council said: "The tree did not have an order on it and it was not in a conservation area and was not protected.

"The yew was causing problems and the village hall committee wanted to remove it.

"A lot of people got very upset about it and rang us, and our first thought was that the parish council had agreed to the works, but it transpired that they had not and the village hall committee had not let people know what they wanted to do."

The district council will now take opinions from both sides and make a decision.

Resident Howard Potts said villagers were upset because there had been no consultation.

"There is hell on in the village about this. We were angry that they were cutting down a 200-year-old tree without consulting us," he said.

The village hall committee declined to comment.