The sight of a row of trees that have been cut down to the stump by the Department of Parks in Southampton last week has disturbed and upset some area residents and passers-by.

And they said the chopping down of nearly two dozen trees along the Middle Road railway trail stretch from Green's Guest House to Whale Bay, is "baffling".

They added their concern that there was no "common courtesy" of notification by the Parks Department, saying it was going to happen.

Now, all that remains of the 25-foot tall trees - some that have been there for over 20 years - are the jagged stumps.

The popular railway trail is used daily by walkers, joggers and nature lovers.

And part of the trail's attraction, said one regular walker, were the trees shielding and sheltering them from the traffic along Middle Road.

"Look at that - they just sliced them and chopped them down," said walker, Martin Wilson. "It looks unsightly and bare. It looks like it was merciless."

In the past, the Government road side crews of Works and Engineering had come under fire for making drastic changes to the roadside foliage - most notably, earlier this year with the royal poinciana tree near the entrance of Fairylands and the cutting down of oleander hedges trees in the Devil's Hole area.

On both occasions area residents expressed outrage at the lack of courtesy and sheer disregard for conservation shown by the Government clean up crew.

When The Royal Gazette contacted W&E, all questions were directed to The Department to Parks, with no official explanation being given.

However a senior member of Works and Engineering said: "The Parks Department is responsible for the cutting down of trees near the roadside. I really cannot comment on why the trees were cut down, but I'm sure they had a good reason for cutting them down."

And workers on the site, who were cleaning up the branches at the time of the cut down, said unofficially, that the next phase of the plan was to uproot the stumps and replace the area with shrubs and bushes.

They pointed out that the trees had rotted over the years and may pose a danger of uprooting during bad weather.

But people who are familiar with the area said the trees were like landmarks and their formidable presence along the trail was something that shrubs would not be able to compare to.

And they said that if there were going to be changes made, then there should have been a common courtesy to residents of the area.

"If it is Government land fine," said one resident. "But there are people who live around here and people who travel through the trail.

"We have become used to seeing the trees here. And to have them just stripped away without so much as `please pardon us' from the Parks or W&E, well that is just very arrogant. It will not look the same."