WITH the buzz of a saw, the creak of a trunk and a tremendous thud, the life of a 150-year-old beech tree came crashing to the ground.

Michael and Susan Gardner, of Preston New Road, Blackburn, ordered the felling of the tree in their garden after a disease started to set in.

The huge trunk will now be cut up and used for tonight's bonfire in Witton Park, which will help raise funds for the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's Magic Eye Appeal.

Inquiries by tree officers from Blackburn with Darwen Council revealed the tree was suffering from ammillaria mellea or honey fungus, a common problem which rots the stump of the tree. Michael, 50, feared the high winds, like those experienced recently, could topple it.

He had grown up at the house and took a difficult decision to have it chopped down.

Blackburn with Darwen Council sent a three-man team to tackle to 60ft tree, which was not the subject of a preservation order, while police were called in to halt the traffic in case it fell across the dual carriageway.

No such mishaps occurred as the huge frame of the tree, with gentle pulling from a winch, slammed into the ground.

Michael said: "It was a bit sad to see it come down because there are a lot of childhood memories attached to the tree.

"But it had come to the end of its life and had to come down."

The Magic Eye appeal aims to raise £200,000 for an endoscopic scanner helping to detect oesophagus and stomach cancer quicker.