Coventry campaigners plan record tree hug in bid to save 26 trees

However, residents want the plans to be redesigned or a “less destructive” route to be found, with more than 4,000 people signing a petition calling for the council to save the threatened trees which they say provide habitats for wildlife.

Campaigner Dawn McCann told BBC CWR the trees had been on the road for “decades”.

“They stop pollution, they give out oxygen, they take up gallons of water because as you go down the road towards the river, the houses at the bottom, the gardens flood,” she explained.

“Once you take these trees out and put saplings in, it’s going to 30-40 years before they’re able to absorb the quantity of water that these trees absorb.”