One-man road tree protest goes on

The protesters said they did not represent a particular group

One protester is still sitting in a tree in ancient Dorset woodland to try to stop clearance work ahead of the building of a new £84m relief road.

Work to clear part of Two Mile Coppice restarted on Thursday after a legal bid by the Woodland Trust temporarily suspended work on Tuesday.

The Weymouth relief road aims to ease traffic around Weymouth and Portland, which are hosting the Olympic sailing.

Dorset County Council said work would continue despite the protest.

Trees around the remaining protester, a man known as Noddy, were being cut down on Sunday.

Noddy, who has lived in Weymouth in the past, told BBC News he feared he could be removed later and his tree cut down.

He said: "It's just me now. I'm doing my best to try and protect this bit of woodland.

"They're already over half way through cutting them and they're working today and have been working over the weekend.

"I imagine most of the trees will be gone fairly soon.

"My tree is on the boundary so I've been able to get a rope down and local people have been sending me food up."

Work restarted

The council said it hoped to complete the work by Christmas.

Some of the trees at Two Mile Coppice are 400 years old

One protester, Nick Pepper, 41, came down from the trees on Saturday morning and another, 35-year-old Nicky Baines, ended his protest on Friday.

Trees and other vegetation were being removed from 1.5 acres of woodland on the western edge of Two Mile Coppice, when Tuesday's legal challenge halted work.

The Woodland Trust, which owns the land, said the county council had failed to provide a Notice to Enter document.

The coppice is among land in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) that Dorset County Council was given permission to buy, using compulsory purchase orders, in September.

But until the orders are processed, the land still belongs to the trust. The correct documentation was later provided and work was allowed to restart.

Environmental groups, including the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), lost a High Court legal bid to stop the road in 2007.

A public inquiry followed, which ended in March 2008, but many residents and businesses said they supported the plan for the road.

Work is due to start in spring 2009, if the Department for Transport (DfT) gives the funding.