This is the moment part of a 30m tree was lifted by crane over rooftops around Plantation Garden in Norwich.
People around Plantation Garden in Norwich on Thursday morning were treated to an unusual site: a 30m tree being slowly brought to the ground.
The decision was taken to remove the horse chestnut from the garden off Earlham Road after it was found to be diseased.
Arborpro Tree Services, based in Long Stratton, was called in to take the tree down using a 40m-high crane.
The four-strong team was on site in Unthank Road on Thursday, removing sections of the tree by chainsaw before using the crane to lift them out of the garden and over the rooftops of nearby houses.
The sections – averaging between 2 and 2.5 tonnes apiece – were cut down further with a chainsaw and fed into a new 8-inch chipper purchased especially for the job.
Despite its size, the tree was expected to be completely dismantled in a matter of hours.
Jonathan Vaughan, who runs Arborpro with wife Eleanor, said: 'There was no access to take the tree out through the Plantation Garden.
'With the crane we can take the tree out in bigger bits rather than dragging it out through the garden. It is more cost-effective.
'There are a lot of sinkholes around here so we had to do a lot of assessments as to where we were going to set up the crane to make sure it did not tip over.'
Mr Vaughan added that the team behind Plantation Garden was planning to replant in the area where the tree had been removed from.
Although it is only a small family company, Arborpro specialises in dealing with large jobs such as the Plantation Garden tree.
The firm was called in to help out after a tree was left in an unstable condition over Bracondale in Norwich during Storm Doris in 2017.
The 200-year-old holm oak tree had been battered by gale force winds during the storm and fell onto a boundary flint wall between two back gardens, smashing window panes in a lean-to on its way down.
City-bound lanes between the County Hall roundabout and King Street were closed while the Arborpro team lifted the tree, which was rooted in the garden of a private property, over the top of a row of houses by crane.
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