Do I need permission to remove a dangerous tree?

General guidance, not a professional assessment. Confirm site-specific advice and current requirements before work.

What to check

Exceptions for immediate risk are limited and depend on the facts. Notice and evidence requirements may still apply. Get council advice where possible rather than assuming the whole tree may be removed.

Safety comes before the enquiry form

Keep people out of the area of concern. Do not climb the tree, pull on damaged limbs or walk underneath to obtain a better photograph. If emergency services or a utility provider need to be involved, use their appropriate emergency route rather than waiting for a website response.

Describe what changed

From a safe position, note when you first noticed the problem and whether it followed wind, impact or ground disturbance. Distinguish a longstanding appearance from a new change. Give that account to the assessing professional without trying to diagnose the cause yourself.

Retain professional records

Ask the professional to record the findings, proposed work and the reasons for it. Keep correspondence with the authority and any safely obtained photographs. These records may matter when explaining why work was necessary, but this website cannot determine what evidence will be sufficient.

Our service has a clear limit

This is a planned-work enquiry service with no verified emergency attendance partner. Submitting a form does not alert an emergency crew or establish that someone will visit. Once any immediate situation has been addressed, a planned enquiry can help with follow-up work within confirmed coverage.

Urgency needs a clear account, not an online verdict

Record what you have observed only from an already safe location. Useful facts include the time you first noticed a change, whether a branch is hanging and whether the situation followed wind, impact or nearby ground disturbance. A description such as 'a new split appeared after the wind' is different from a statement that the tree is certain to fall. Let a competent professional assess the significance and the response.

Our tree-assessment signs guide explains how to describe concerns without diagnosing them. Do not revisit the area to improve a photograph, mark a branch or compare its position with an earlier image. If people or infrastructure may be affected, use the appropriate urgent reporting route. This website cannot judge immediate danger, dispatch an emergency crew or advise that it is safe to remain near the tree while an enquiry is processed.

Keep the necessary response separate from a wider project

A concern may lead a professional to recommend a specific action. That recommendation should identify the problem and the work needed to address it, rather than treating urgency as an opportunity to include unrelated pruning or landscaping. Ask for a record of the assessment and relevant communications when it is practicable to do so. Avoid suggesting a larger operation merely because equipment may already be coming to the site.

National guidance sets a narrow framework for urgent exceptions. The precise requirements depend on the circumstances, and this general guide does not establish that an exception applies. If later planned work remains desirable, discuss it as a separate proposal after the immediate situation is addressed. The protected-tree application guide can help prepare that later conversation. A record of urgent work should not become an assumed standing authority for every future operation on the tree.

Hypothetical example: a branch concern and a removal request

Imagine that a homeowner is worried about a newly damaged branch on a protected tree and also wants the whole tree removed for a future garden redesign. These are different reasons for work. The assessing professional needs to consider the immediate concern, while the proposed redesign needs its own planning and tree-work discussion. Combining both into a single statement that the tree is dangerous obscures what has actually been assessed.

The homeowner should keep the observed change, professional finding and proposed response distinct from the later design preference. This fictional example does not state what work would be justified, which exception would apply or what evidence would satisfy the authority. It illustrates the importance of describing the actual situation accurately. Our removal versus pruning guide helps frame the broader options once any immediate issue has been dealt with through the appropriate route.

Preserve evidence without collecting it unsafely

Keep correspondence, professional notes and photographs that already exist or can be obtained from a safe place. Ask the business to identify the tree, relevant feature and operation in its records. If it has communicated with the authority, request the reference and retain the response where available. Do not assume a brief invoice line will later explain all the circumstances or the limits of the recommendation.

It may be helpful to make a chronological note: what was noticed, who was contacted, what advice was given and when work took place. Keep facts separate from your recollection of an informal opinion. Never collect evidence by entering an exclusion area, handling damaged timber or climbing for a closer view. A record should assist an explanation of the event, not create another exposure to the situation the professional was called to assess in the first place.

Move follow-up work into an ordinary planning process

Once the urgent situation has been addressed, ask what remains to be assessed or maintained. Clarify whether the contractor recommends a further visit, a different specialist or a separate quotation. If a stump, damaged surface or replacement planting is part of the later project, describe it explicitly. Do not assume it was included in an urgent attendance or that the first business has automatically accepted responsibility for every next stage.

Use payment and job records to keep the scopes and invoices understandable. Recheck permissions for a changed or additional proposal and confirm the actual availability of any contractor before making plans. The planned-work form can help organise a later enquiry within confirmed coverage, but it remains unsuitable for seeking an emergency response. Its purpose is to support a clear follow-up brief, not to turn a homeowner's concern into a legal or technical determination.

Can an old report establish the current position?

An older assessment may provide useful history, but explain any changes since it was written and ask what current advice is needed. Do not treat its existence as a permanent safety guarantee or an unlimited authority for work. Retain the original findings and later communications separately so that the reason for a present recommendation can be understood without altering or overstating what a previous professional actually recorded about the tree.

Your next step

Do not approach a damaged tree to take photographs. This enquiry service is not monitored for emergencies and does not provide emergency attendance.

Sources & further reading

• GOV.UK: Tree Preservation Orders and conservation areas
• HSE: tree-work safety topics
• Bedford Borough Council: protected trees

Sources checked 31 October 2026. How we prepare guidance.