Lakeside residents have objected to the cutting down of trees and bushes along Newent bypass by Gloucestershire County Council.

The mayor of Newent, Coun Fred Passant, said that the town council had received "vociferous" complaints from members of the public by telephone and in writing.

Town clerk Deirdre Rosser added: "The complaints were that the county council had gone completely over the top."

The matter was discussed at Monday's full council meeting, when members decided that despite the letters and the phone calls the matter was nothing to do with Newent Town Council.

Members heard that Gloucestershire County Council had carried out a "pruning regime" sufficient for the next five years, and that the aim had been to improve the visibility of traffic signs.

Herbert Hawkins, of Lakeside, who wrote to the town council expressing his objections, said: "It was not necessary to cut the trees down so far up the embankment, and the trees were not interfering with signage."

Some Newent Town Council members said they thought that the current very bare appearance of the verge would be improved by springtime growth.