Cornwall Council has confirmed that the removal of parts of a protected Monterey pine tree in Penryn had been given consent before arborists started work on Wednesday.

Local residents became concerned after hearing chainsaws and falling branches at a building site on Vinery Meadow, with no immediate evidence that the work was being carried out legally.

But the council has since confirmed that it had received an application to fell the tree, and had granted permission to remove dead wood from the crown.

A resident of Vinery Meadow, who said they could hear "branches falling as I write," contacted the Packet on Wednesday afternoon to say: "Ladd Developers are cutting the tree, so far lots of branches but they will probably end up taking the [lot] down.

"The case officer can't tell me if they have permission to do this... she is finding out from the tree officer. I think it will be completely destroyed by the time they sort themselves out."

But Tom Pugh, the tree surgeon carrying out the work, said developers WJ Ladd had received permission to remove the tree, and said he was "the only person qualified to really comment," as the only one to have climbed the tree seen "the terrible state of the crown."

He confirmed on Wednesday that the plan was to entirely remove the tree, and said: "It's failing. It's got to go.

"There wasn't a lot of safe tree left. It's not a good idea to leave a tree like that, a tree that's losing limbs."

Philip Ladd, of WJ Ladd, said: "It was always going to see a lot of people getting irate about it because they don't want the tree cut down, but the fact of the matter remains that branches are falling off.

"the tree has got to come down because it's dying."

A Cornwall Council spokesperson said "The five day notice in this case gave permission for the removal of dead or diseased branches," and added that the case was now being dealt with by the enforcement team.

A five day notice, or dead and dangerous tree notice, is usually submitted by a landowner wishing to remove or work on a tree they consider to present a safety risk. Once it is submitted the council has five days to raise any concerns.

In the case of the tree at Vinery Meadow, development officer Kirsty Smith refused permission to fell the tree, but granted permission to remove "evident dead wood" and said a full planning application would need to be submitted for the rest of the work.

The Monterey pine, which has tree protection order on it, is currently the subject of a planning appeal after three applications for permission to fell it were denied by Cornwall Council.