TWO ancient trees in the garden of a house had holes cut into their trunks and poison inserted.

Mr Roger Allen discovered the damaged horse chestnuts in the driveway of his Victorian home in Bury Road, Tottington.

A mystery toxic substance had been poured into large cuts on both trees. The substance has been sent away for analysis and Mr Allen has vowed to pursue a prosecution if he discovers who carried out the mystery attack.

He said: "I saw cut marks across both trunks. They were quite deep, about half an inch. Liquid poison had then been poured into the cut marks. These two horse chestnut trees are very mature and around 200-years-old."

Mr Allen (61), who has lived at the property virtually all his life, called in a tree surgeon to examine the damaged horse chestnuts.

"It was too late to do anything. Some leaves have shrivelled up and died. I'll just have to wait and see whether the trees will die or not," he said. "The driveway to the house has many other trees in the grounds and I've been carrying out a fair amount of trimming with the consent of other parties."

Mr Allen added: "If I get sufficient evidence, then I will prosecute those responsible for criminal damage."