Tree clearance work by Urban Green has been defended after a local woman claimed she was injured by a felled tree while walking her dog in Jesmond Dene.

Dog walker Yvonne Bell of Heaton is a regular user of Jesmond Dene, an area that has been part of Urban Green’s tree risk management and wider routine maintenance programmme during February and March.

Bell told JesmondLocal: “I was walking along the pathway [in Jesmond Dene], I slipped, and I fell backwards into some bushes. Normally, I would be a bit embarrassed and get up, but they had pushed a freshly cut (tree) end in there and I fell onto my back.

“My back was sore for about seven weeks and if it had been my neck or my head it would have been another story. It wasn’t even the rounded trunk end it was the freshly cut sharp end.

“There has also been a dog killed when some louts rolled a log down the bank one night,” Bell said. “It was a golden retriever that was killed. So we’re not happy about all of this (tree cuts) being left around.”

Urban Green is an independent charity responsible for the management and upkeep of Newcastle’s 33 parks and over 60 allotment sites. On its website the charity says its aim is “to make sure Newcastle’s parks continue to be safe places for people to visit”. Urban Green told JesmondLocal it was unaware of any incidents involving the public in Jesmond Dene.

Local resident Tony Neale defended the Urban Green work, saying it has been beneficial to the area. He said: “Urban Green are actually doing a good job, especially after the issues last year where all of the trees came down and things like that, they were straight onto the job, placing fences, looking after the paths.

“I’ve also noticed they bring a lot of community groups in, such as disabled and special needs groups, to do work which is good for the people in the community.

“I don’t see any issues really. I’ve been walking down here for 60 years and it’s in the best condition I have ever seen.”

A Northumbria Police spokesperson told JesmondLocal that it had not received any reports from the public concerning any incidents involving tree felling in Jesmond Dene. Urban Green said it had not been aware of either allegation by Bell, but would welcome any feedback regarding the works via info@urbangreennewcastle.org