PLANS to fell three trees and cut back several others have prompted fierce criticism from a local scientist.
Members of St Nicholas' Church, in Charlwood, want to work on more than 30 trees to improve the appearance of the churchyard.
Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) has raised no objections to their plans, which have been put forward by Brendon Sewill, on behalf of the parochial church council.
But Dr Jayne Cuthbert is disputing the decision to fell one yew and one holly tree because they are said to obscure the view of the church, and an additional holly which is said to be encroaching the site.
Dr Cuthbert said: "These beautiful trees, they are doing nothing wrong, why on earth are all these people wanting them felled? You do not stand behind the tree if you want to see the church.
"The yew tree is a magnificent looking tree, it is very attractive.
"It is not obscuring the church at all and from its girth dimension it can be calculated that it is at the very least 300 years old."
Mr Sewill, who produced a report on the trees, said: "The decision was taken after careful consideration on landscaping grounds to improve the appearance of the churchyard, and it was approved not only by the full parochial church council but by the diocese's experts and by Mole Valley [council's] tree expert."
A spokesman for MVDC said: "The council can raise objections for any reasons, but it must have sufficient grounds to protect the trees with a Tree Preservation Order and the works must be considered unreasonable in terms of the wider impacts to public visual amenity.
"In this case, the visual effects of the works were modest and not something for which the council could reasonably withhold consent."
They added that MVDC's tree officer visited the site on three occasions and estimated one holly to be between 60 and 80 years of age.
The second holly was misidentified and is thought to be a small laurel of indeterminate age, while the yew was estimated at around 120 years of age.