All trees planted at beauty spot in Devon have been destroyed

Every single tree planted at a Plymouth beauty spot has been destroyed.

The blossom tree saplings were planted at Devil's Point as part of a national nature initiative earlier this year.

The site was selected as a partner in the National Trust's Blossom Together programme because of its unique marine and green environment.

The trees were designed to get the UK to celebrate blossom season and to help people connect with nature.

It's not yet known if the trees were damaged by the recent spate of bad weather or vandalism.

A Plymouth City Council spokesman said: "We're aware of the damage to our brand new Blossom Circle trees at Devils Points.

“So that the trees have the greatest chance of surviving, we’re going to coppice them to about 30cm above ground level. They still have a large root ball and are likely to regrow quite naturally and quite quickly from the cut stem.

“It won’t look pretty immediately and clearly we won’t get the beautiful blossom that we were expecting next year but the plus side is that the trees may well be stronger in the long term as they will have more time to adapt to the environment and will hopefully survive in a better condition into the future.”

The work was completed in the early spring and saw the trees planted in a semi-circle with the design mirroring the blossoming seagrass meadows beneath the waves just offshore.

National Trust says “We’re really saddened to see the damage caused to the blossom trees at Devil’s Point. The space was created in Plymouth so more people could have access to beautiful spaces and nature.

"This was built as a community space to not only enjoy the beautiful views but also a location for other activities.

"The damage is devastating to see but we fully support the plan proposed by our partners at Plymouth City Council to coppice and hope that the young trees will regrow naturally and be stronger in the long term."