ICONIC poplars in WGC town centre are set to be chopped down, having been earmarked as needing urgent removal.

Specialists were called in to inspect 72 Lombardy poplars in the town, after one fell in high winds and crushed a car in Howardsgate, last summer.

After sonic testing detected internal trunk cavities, seven trees in Parkway and another three on Digswell Road have been recommended for the axe.

The work will take place in February and April.

More on this story in this week’s Welwyn Hatfield Times.