A TREE branded "a weed" has taken centre stage in a government planning appeal in Petersfield this week.

The costly public hearing in front of just four people – a government planning inspector, two aboricultural officers from East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) and a reporter from the Petersfield Herald – took place in a cavernous church hall in the town.

It followed the refusal of the council to allow the protected tree, planted in front of a house in Ryefield Close, to be felled.

For full story, see this week's Petersfield Herald.