TREES at Leigh's cemetery lodge have been protected from the chop.

The trees at the Manchester Road site are among five new preservation orders issued by the council.

Others to benefit from a concerted council drive to safeguard trees and woodlands include specimens at 293 Sandy lane and 12 Marsh Brook Close, Hindley.

The new orders were confirmed without opposition from residents or landowners and take the total of TPOs to nearly 200.

Damaging a protected tree can prove expensive as one Golborne company found to its cost recently when they hacked down a protected beech tree on the Millingford Industrial Estate.

The council prosecuted and the firm was fined £2000.

Cllr David Molyneux, chairman of the development control committee, said: "Trees make a huge contribution to the attractiveness of our communities.

"By pushing on with our programme we are sending out a strong message that we value our trees and we will do everything in our power to protect them from damage."