The Ballasalla and District Residents' Association is up in arms over an issue relating to the long-running planning battle at the Poacher's Pocket site in the village.

Members are due to meet the media this afternoon (Wednesday) to express their 'disgust and anger' over what they describe as 'the destruction of over 150 mature trees on the site'.

They say it goes against the conditions applied by an independent planning inspector at an earlier date, when it was said only two or three trees would require felling.

However, a spokesperson for the government's planning department said a revised landscaping scheme was agreed in April, under which any trees cut down would be replaced by other, 'more appropriate' ones.