Vicar Geoffrey Hewitt, who was at the centre of a sex scandal in his former parish, has sparked more controversy with the destruction of trees at his rectory.

Villagers from Christian Malford blame the vicar for keeping them in the dark about plans to chop down between 30 and 40 lime trees, which they claim were invaluable to the village's appearance.

But John Lloyd, a spokesman for the Diocese of Bristol, which is responsible for the upkeep of Mr Hewitt's benefice, said the under-fire vicar had nothing to do with the decision to chop down the trees.

Mr Lloyd claimed the decision to carry out the drastic tree surgery was initiated by the highways authority, after concerns that overhanging branches could jeopardise the safety of children attending the village school, which is opposite the rectory.

But villagers say when Mr Hewitt was approached he told them the trees were being cut down give the rectory, in Church Road, more light.

Mr Lloyd stressed that while the rectory is the vicar's home, the property belongs to the diocese, which made the final decision to carry out the work.

Mother-of-two Nicky Seal, who has lived in the village for nearly six years, said: "We all know what happened and we know his past, and everyone was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he seems to be doing nothing to endear us to himself. What makes me so upset is that it was done so quickly, without anyone knowing. I think people have a right to know. It is church land, but it's part of the village and it impacts on everyone.

"There's a lot of ill feeling about it. The church is very quick to get us to dig in our pockets for roof tiles and repairs to their buildings, we're always being asked to help out, and then they do something like this."

Mr Lloyd said: "Of course people are concerned with living things. The trees have been there for a long time, but then we have a responsibility to manage our gardens."

Residents fear cutting the 30ft limes, which formed part of an avenue of trees leading to All Saints Church, to hedge height, could open the way for renewed attempts to develop land on the rectory site.

Villager Louise Collings, 45, claims the trees provided a significant obstacle to attempts to build on the land five years ago, because they obstructed access to the road.

Mrs Seal, 38, said developing the land would increase traffic on Church Road, and provide a much greater threat to the safety of the school children than the trees.

Mr Lloyd confirmed the site has outline planning permission, but denied the church has any plans to build at the rectory in the immediate future.

Mrs Collings said she does not understand why tree surgeons could not have made the limes safe by thinning the trees, or confining the surgery to overhanging branches.

The mother-of-four was so incensed she has set up a petition and already has more than 30 signatures from people concerned about the destruction of the trees.

She also contacted the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust because she was concerned the work could be damaging the habitat of great crested newts, which are a protected species and prevalent in the area.

She branded the vicar insensitive for failing to discuss the plans, which have reduced the trees to stumps.

"I couldn't sleep once it happened because I'm so upset about it," she said.

"The vicar was not prepared to discuss alternatives with me. He's

obviously not conservation-minded."