WANSTEAD residents are being spurred into action to thwart a bid that has been made to remove a tree preservation order on trees within the grounds of Chepstow house.

It is feared developers may want the protection order covering the trees at Chepstow, in Leicester Road, Wanstead, scrapped so the land can be developed.

Ciaran Clerkin, who lives in nearby Gloucester Road, has written a newsletter urging residents to ask Redbridge Council to uphold the tree order.

The worries come after solicitors acting on behalf of the estate of Miss Joan Lironi, the late resident of Chepstow, filed an objection to the order, which was passed in May last year protecting certain trees within the site.

Miss Lironi, a spinster who passed away early last year, was well known in Wanstead often seen being driven around in her black Rolls Royce motor car. It is understood that in her will Miss Leroni left a large part of her estate, which is reportedly worth £13m, to two charities.

The objection refers to technical errors in the order, which is now expected to be reviewed by Redbridge Council's regulatory committee at its meeting tomorrow (Thursday, May 26).

Mr Clerkin said: "We're all concerned the developers are going to move in and turn it into something it wasn't before. Since they intervened on the order I thought it was an ominous start in the process."

Residents have already achieved a minor victory after getting the order's review deferred from the committee's April meeting arguing that the objections had not been advertised widely enough in the area.

Mr Clerkin said he wrote the newsletter to inform residents of what was happening and encourage support from the neighbourhood.

He said: "Nobody knows what's happening. It's about raising awareness and issues that local people want to respond to, like this challenge of the tree order."

Mr Clerkin is urging residents to write to Wanstead councillor Allan Burgess or the council planners in support of the order.

He cites a number of reasons to protect the trees, including their importance to Wanstead's botanical heritage, the absorption of fumes from heavy traffic and the habitat they provide for birds.

Mr Burgess said: "There are a number of notable trees in the grounds there."

Mr Clerkin added: "The people in the street where I live are all concerned. It's partly on their behalf I'm doing this. It's not personal or political, it's local."