RESIDENTS have hit out after contractors began stripping a row of trees on a railway embankment of their branches - leaving local homes overlooked by York Hospital.

Amanda Daw, from Filey Terrace, said the Leylandii trees on the embankment alongside the York-Scarborough line were being cut back to their trunks.

She said she was told by the workmen that they posed a health and safety risk, but the hospital was paying for the work because they were on its land.

However, she understood the trees were planted when the hospital was built to create a visual barrier between the complex and homes in Filey Terrace and Scarborough Terrace.

She understood the branches would not grow back, and light from the hospital was affecting homes, while residents were also left looking out on to ‘hideous’ bare brown trunks instead of greenery.

She claimed no one had been notified in advance of the work.

Another resident, Elizabeth Lewis, said the trees also provided a sound barrier against noise from the hospital site, particularly delivery lorries which arrived in the early hours.

She said they were also important to wildlife such as birds, as well as providing a green backdrop.

A Network Rail spokeswoman said that during its routine monitoring of the track and lineside, one of its team had observed that conifers on the hospital land had become overgrown and could be at risk of falling onto the railway.

“We asked the hospital as the land owner to carry out pruning on the trees to reduce that risk.”

York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust confirmed Network Rail had asked it to cut back the conifers because of a ‘significant health and safety concern.’

A spokeswoman said: “The work is being completed by an approved Network Rail contractor and all necessary permits from the local authority are in place for this work to take place. As the trees are on the trust property, we are paying for this work to be undertaken.

“Whilst this work is not optional, we are working closely with the contractors to minimise the impact on the local environment, while seeking to maintain as much privacy as is possible for local residents.” She thanked residents for their patience while the work was completed.