Families in Oxford yesterday lost their battle to save 12 willow trees. Earlier this month, residents of Osney Island, West Oxford, staged a musical protest against plans to fell the trees, which line the River Thames in East Street.

But officials in the city council parks department insisted the trees were rotten and needed to come down for safety reasons.

Despite 11th-hour calls for a stay of execution to allow further examination, about 30 residents gathered in the street to see six contractors start felling the trees with chainsaws shortly before noon. The work is expected to last three days.

Susanna Pressel, Labour city councillor for Jericho and Osney, said she and residents tried every possible measure to prevent the trees being felled. She had threatened to tie herself a tree but there were no physical protests once council staff arrived on site with chainsaws and a forklift truck and hoist.

Ms Pressel said: "About 60 residents met Liberal Democrat city councillor Alan Armitage on Sunday night to urge him to see to consider an alternative, but he was adamant that the trees must come down for safety reasons. We wanted the trees to be pollarded to a height of nine feet, and then a band could have been placed round them to prevent them from falling over."

John Wade, manager of the city council's parks department, said the council had taken all the correct measures "from a planning point of view", including checks to ensure that the trees did not contain any bats.

He added that the trees were being felled for safety reasons because they were clearly rotten. Mr Wade said: "Public safety is of foremost importance. Six staff will be working to fell the trees over the next three days."

The city council has agreed to liaise with the county council over replacement trees, but some residents say the removal of the willows, some of which are estimated to be 50 years old, will damage the street scene.

Resident Giles Warner, 37, who lives with his wife Antonia, 37, and 17-month-old daughter in East Street, said: "All we wanted from the council was a two-week reprieve so that we could look at any possible alternatives in detail. The trees are part of the magic of this street and it is delightful to be able to walk along this tree-lined river frontage.

"These trees would only fall down if Hurricane Katrina came along, and felling them has completely changed the cosmetic aspect of the street. What has really angered people is the lack of communication from the council in the first place over these proposals."

Richard Thurston, chairman of the Osney Island Residents Association, said: "We agree with the council that three of the trees need to come down for safety reasons because they are rotten but we don't believe the rest need to come down.

"It flies in the face of common sense.

"The council has been secretive when it came to releasing the inspection report which condemned the trees and refused to wait for our own qualified tree inspector to carry out his own check later this week."

AUDIO REPORT: You can listen to Andrew Ffrench's special audio report on the felling of trees in East Streetoxfordmail.net/media/audio