The 1,00-year-old Big Belly Oak in Savernake Forest has failed to win the English Tree of the Year title.

Wiltshire's notable ancient oak, near Marlborough, lost out to the tree said to have been the hideout of Robin Hood and his Merry Men, said the Woodland Trust.

The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest Country Park, Nottinghamshire, won almost a fifth (18%) of nearly 13,000 votes cast in the public poll run by the conservation charity.

The vast, spreading oak, is thought to be between 800 and 1,000 years old.

As well as the Big Belly Oak the other finalists were the ancient oak Old Knobbley in Essex and the Ickwell Oak in Bedfordshire, the Ankerwycke Yew in Berkshire and Newton's Apple Tree in Lincolnshire.

The Major Oak will represent England in the European Tree of the Year contest, run by the Environmental Partnership Association, taking place in February.

It will join Scotland's Lady Tree, at Loch of the Lowes, near Dunkeld, Perthshire, home to the world's oldest breeding osprey, and the Lonely Tree, above Llanfyllin in Powys, Mid Wales, which was blown over in the winter storms earlier this year, which are representing their countries in the European competition.

The Woodland Trust said most of northern Europe's special trees are found in the UK and should be officially recognised and protected in the same way as historic buildings.

Woodland Trust chief executive Beccy Speight said: "The number of votes and amount of interest this contest has generated really demonstrate how much people love their trees and I can't think of a better representative for England than the Major Oak.

"We need to translate this passion into action, to ensure all our venerable old trees have the best possible support and protection to prolong their existence in the face of any threats faced - and that's exactly what our call for a national register of trees of special interest aims to do."

John Knight, committee chairman for culture at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: "It is one of the most iconic trees worldwide. We are rightly proud of our famous tree.

"Legend has it that it was the hideout for Robin Hood and his Merry Men, and the Major Oak is a fascinating natural habitat."

The Major Oak, which was one of the locations chosen for the Olympic Flame to visit on its tour around England, is an English, or penduculate, oak, and weighs around 23 tons, has a girth of 33ft (10m) and a spread of 92ft (28m).

Big Belly is one of Fifty Great British Trees named and honoured as part of the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations. It has a girth of 11 metres and is at least 1,000–years old.

In 2001, as it was in danger of splitting in two, it was fitted with a metal corset.