IT comes as no surprise to find ramblers bemoaning the destruction of a 100-yard section of undergrowth and woodland alongside the Severn Way in Worcester.

Apparently, even Malvern Hills District Council officers are puzzled by what's happened on the banks of the River Severn, near The Ketch.

Landscape officer Mike Gregory had the impression that the task, carried out by contractors working for the Severn Motor Yacht Club, would involve some action to stop roots damaging the road.

But what he saw yesterday, he says, took him aback.

Of course, it's difficult for anyone, nowerdays, to justify moves that change the face of the natural environment.

Nonetheless, yacht club committee member David Palor has had a go.

The work was necessary to preserve the riverbank for the future and safeguard walkers. It should help stop riverbank subsidence and preserve the Severn Way, he said.

"It's called pollarding," he told us, "and the trees will grow back."

Well, according to the dictionary, a pollarded tree is "one with its top cut off so as to have a dense head of young branches".

Whether that is the kind of work that has been carried out along the Severn we'll leave readers to judge after they've studied the picture we publish on P3 today.