POLICE have warned a council chief over an incident in which workmen cut back a York hedgerow while birds might still have been nesting.

Wildlife liaison officer PC Rebecca Waddington said today she had given a verbal warning to Russell Stone, the street scene manager with City of York Council.

PC Waddington said she had also attended a training session with council staff at which wildlife legislation had been fully explained, with the aim of preventing any more breaches of wildlife legislation.

Police launched an investigation in July after council workmen cut back the hedgerow, at Osbaldwick, too early in the summer.

Environmentalist Barry Potter said he believed a fledgling had been killed during the work, and he had complained to North Yorkshire Police that the authority had breached the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

Resident and environmental campaigner Mark Warters, who also lodged a complaint with the police, said that carrying out such environmentally destructive work at that time of year was "crassly insensitive."

City of York Council admitted then that it should have waited before cutting the hedge so severely, and apologised for any "adverse impact on wildlife."

Terry Collins, director of neighbourhood services at the council, said today that, following the incident, the council had promised to review its procedures for cutting rural hedges and arrange for staff to receive training regarding wildlife regulations.

"We can confirm that both of these have now been completed," he said.

The authority said in July that it had carried out the work after a number of residents had raised concerns about the height of the hedge, which was growing out into the road.

It said officers had inspected the site, and felt the work needed to be carried out to reduce the width and height of the hedge as a matter of urgency, because of the risk to drivers, pedestrians and cyclists posed by visibility problems. But in hindsight, the council should have waited until the end of July to cut back the hedge further.

Council leader Steve Galloway later revealed that he had originally pressed for the hedge to be trimmed back from the highway after being contacted by a resident concerned about overgrowth.

"I visited the area and confirmed that a streetlight was overgrown, producing a potential blind spot on a highway near a bend," Coun Galloway said.

"Branches were also beginning to overgrow the carriageway, potentially damaging vehicles. Both required prompt action."