Wheelchair users and prams have been forced into the road by an overgrown tree damaging a pavement in Wooburn Green.

Buckinghamshire Council told residents of Wye Road it would remove the tree outside numbers 7 and 8 on September 16, but it has still not done so.

Those living in the street have now launched a petition to get the council to remove the tree or trim it to allow footpath access.

Wooburn unitary councillors Stuart Wilson and Penny Drayton are among the 35 people to add their names to the appeal.

The petition reads: “The roots have now grown into the roadway causing damage. It is blocking the footpath, which means that wheelchair, mobility scooter and pram users are not able to use the path correctly and have had to dismount from the kerb and use the roadway.

“Each property has space for vehicles and at no point are there vehicles blocking the pathway.”

The petition’s author said the council cancelled its planned works, which was confirmed to them in a freedom of information request.

They denied the council’s claim access to the tree was blocked by vehicles, explaining that residents of Wye Road had a ‘verbal agreement’ not to park by the tree.

Cllr Drayton told the Bucks Free Press: “This tree is causing major issues at the entrance of the resident’s front pathway and access to their property.

“It has been left unmanaged by the council for years and now has totally outgrown its space with the roots pushing through the pathway and road.

“Whilst I would always strive to save a tree whenever possible, this is causing obstruction and creating obstacles, pushing people into the road which obviously comes with great risks and safety concerns.”

Cllr Drayton said she and colleagues had requested tree management, but the ‘years of neglect’ could not be reversed, adding that removing the tree was the ‘only way to stop this encroachment’.

Resident Foad Izagaren reported the tree to the council via its ‘Fix My Street’, saying it had been an issue ‘for years’.

A highways officer attended the tree to inspect it, according to the council’s last update in response to his report, from August 14.

The authority said it assessed repairs in accordance with its highways safety inspection policy, adding that the tree was a ‘minor defect’, meaning work on it should be carried out in six to eight weeks.

The petition is now closed and is due to be heard at a meeting of the South West Chilterns Community Board on March 5, 2025.