A TREE has been felled in Bournemouth town centre after becoming 'unsafe'. 

The large tree has been cut down in Central Gardens. 

Part of the trunk remains in the ground, not far from the Cenotaph war memorial, but the rest has been chopped up on the ground. 

According to the council’s planning portal, no planning application has been submitted to fell a tree in Central Gardens in recent years. 

The felling follows strong winds on Sunday night. 

A BCP Council spokesperson said: “The decision to fell a pine tree in Bournemouth Lower Gardens, which had heaved in recent high winds and had become unsafe, was taken on Friday.

“The pine had suffered root plate failure and had brought up a large section of tarmac.

“The tree was unsafe to climb, there was no room for a crane and the wet ground made the area dangerous for large machinery. This left directly felling the tree as the only safe option.

“Our parks team removed bins and benches for our arboricultural contractor to do this. The area was closed to pedestrians while the operations took place.”