TREES on the Portland Prison site are to be felled or cut back – in some cases because they are too close to the security fence.

Dorset Council is being asked to approve a schedule of works for more than a hundred trees on the prison site which includes the felling of some Ash and Sycamore trees.

Ash dieback has been cited in a tree report for the reason why some of the mature trees will need to be felled. In total less than ten trees are expected to be completely cut down but some work is anticipated on more than half of the trees which have been surveyed.

In many cases the work is being proposed because there are branches growing close to buildings or the security fencing.