If you have trees at your garden, you could also face a fine due to a single mistake.
As spring arrives, many people start working in their gardens and experts are reminding them that many trees are protected by Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs), which people often don’t know about.
If someone cuts, trims or damages these trees without permission, they could be fined up to £20,000.
What is TPO?
A TPO is a rule in the UK made by local councils to safeguard specific trees or groups of trees and woodland areas.
It stops people from cutting down, damaging, or destroying those trees on purpose without permission.
In Scotland, TPOs can also protect trees that are historically or culturally important.
If you want to do any kind of work on it like trimming, cutting branches or any kind of maintenance work, you must first get permission from your local council.
The Woodland Trust said in a statement, "Failure to obtain permission before carrying out work on a protected tree can result in prosecution, with fines of up to £20,000 in a magistrates’ court."
The statement further added, "Serious cases may be taken to trial in the crown court and offenders could face an unlimited fine if convicted."
