Thirteen firefighters were called after a Cornwall Councillor illegally cut down two hectares of trees and set them on fire to make room for holiday lodges on his farm.

Falmouth Packet:

The woodland before it was cut down

Falmouth Packet:

The aftermath of the illegal felling

Alan Jewell, who is also chair of Falmouth Town Council's planning committee, has now been ordered to re-plant the trees by the government's forestry commission or else face prosecution.

He felled the trees on his Pennance Mill Farm in Goldenbank without the proper licence before starting three large bonfires which had to be put out by three fire engines and a total of 13 Fire and Rescue staff, who arrived at the scene to find the fires unattended on May 24.

It is thought that it will take around 20 years for the woodland to reach its previous size.

A local resident told the Packet the area is "like the Battle of the Somme."

Alan Jewell said: "I never knew I needed permission to cut down the trees. So as far as I knew I wasn't breaking the law.

"And I didn't cut all the trees down. There's still trees left in the field, I left the best trees in the field.

"We may, in the future, be putting some holiday accommodation in there, but we will be planting trees that will be better than what we took out."

The trees on the site, which is between Falmouth Pitch and Putt and Twinbrook Park, were planted in the mid 1990s to create an area of 'new native woodland'.

Mr Jewell claims that he felled mostly ash trees and thorn rather than the oaks around the borders of the site which he says are protected by a tree preservation order (TPO).

A Forestry Commission spokesperson said: "Individuals are required to apply for a felling licence from the Forestry Commission before felling trees.

"Felling without a licence may result in prosecution or the serving of a restocking notice where individuals are required to plant more trees to offset the unlicensed felling within a set timescale.

"Non-compliance with the restocking notice may result in prosecution.”

The councillor previously faced criticism when developers Westcountry Land Ltd lodged a claim for a judicial review against Cornwall Council.

They claimed that Mr Jewell failed to declare an interest when discussing planning permissions for a development on the nearby Menehay Farm, a direct competitor to Mr Jewell's holiday letting business.

If planning permission was granted, it would have meant that Menehay Farm Touring Park would have been able to extend their site.

In the end, Mr Jewell was exonerated as he never actually cast a deciding vote despite taking part in discussions which saw the application rejected.