It was a half-baked, lame excuse for the barefaced destruction of a row of magnificent trees in Knaresborough road Skipton, by developer Stonebridge Homes in last week’s edition (story: anger over the thoughtless irresponsible cull of trees) The felling was philistine- from people who have no sympathy for the environment or local sensitivity, just lust for profit. From their reply you’d think they were doing us a favour.

The dissembling statement rabbiting on about the company’s ecological conscience flies in the face of reality.

It is crass for them to claim that what they have done has anything to do with the ecology or environment.

What they have done is obliterate a row of beautiful trees planted for our enjoyment by our forebears, I guess well over a century ago.

And Craven council should bear some of the blame.

Clive White

Skipton.