ANXIOUS residents in Darwen today claimed protected trees will die and wildlife will lose its home because of development work at a local site.

Householders in Willow Bank Lane have moved to get a woodland preservation order in place to protect the trees.

But the work pre-dates the orders, rendering it useless.

Now residents want Hampshire Associates Ltd to remove the soil it has piled up around the trees, causing the trunks to rot.

Today Karl Baxter, from Hampshire Associates, said the company had not done anything wrong.

He said if the residents had wanted to protect the trees they should have applied for a preservation order before building work started.

But he said the firm would replace the trees if they died and would consult residents about future landscaping plans.

He added: "We own the land in question which is adjacent to the building site - it is our land and they are our trees.

"There is a strong possibility that these trees will be damaged but all we have done is move soil from one piece of land that we own to another piece of land that we own.

"If the trees die, we will replace them when we landscape the plot and if anybody wants to come along and speak to me about our future landscaping plans in a reasonable manner then they can do so. But we will not be dictated to by residents."

Council bosses have told residents they cannot force the firm to remove the soil as it owns the land and the soil was put there before the preservation order came into effect last week.

The order, which protects all types of tree species and saplings on the site, was granted to preserve the greenery for residents and maintain a bat colony.

Willow Bank Lane resident Karen Haworth, said: "All the residents are really concerned that the trees will die and the colony of bats who nest there will lose their homes.

"We all have a duty to protect the environment especially when there are so few trees to start with."

The soil was moved from the building site, where 17 homes are being built, to adjacent land as part of a planning condition to help control the spread of invasive Japanese Knotweed.

Countryside expert David Hewitt said: "Soil up against the trees will cause long-term damage and could even kill them as the bark will start to rot and the trunks decay.

"Raising the soil level so much will also affect the balance the tree has with the soil, fungus and moisture and oxygen content and could even undermine the structure of the tree causing it to collapse."