• I DREAD the notices of “tree works” going up and the earsplitting attacks by gung-ho contractors on our beautiful trees, (Look out, there’s tree-maiming about, May 2).

Why are these contractors so brutal and/or inexpert that they wait for the trees to burst into welcome leaf and then come and butcher them, as it seems, within an inch of their lives?

Why all this destruction when we so desperately need all the oxygen the trees can generate and also their ability to absorb the pollutants that so damage the air quality in our streets, and our lungs, especially those of our children?

Could they not be carefully pruned at a better time of year, if this really is necessary, rather than just after they have burst into leaf?

HB, NW1