'Good progress' being made on Cannock Chase tree felling
Foresters say they are making good progress on felling about 800 trees on Cannock Chase following an outbreak of a disease.
A popular section of forest has been closed in Birches Valley to allow heavy machinery to cut down Corsican pine trees.
The pine trees have contracted Red Band Needle Blight, a disease carried on the wind, and causes needles to fall off branches.
The forest closed on Monday and work is scheduled to take place for four weeks, with this area of forest closed until April 3.
A spokesman for the Forestry Commission, which is carrying out the work, confirmed work is progressing well.
The spokesman said: "Work started yesterday. The work is coming along well and people seems to be understanding."
A concern of the Forestry Commission was the reaction from the public in closing off parts of the forest.
The trails are popular with walkers and mountain-bikers. However the work is needed in a bid to save more trees from dying.
A warning has also been made to the public to heed signs and safety warnings around the forest.
Foresters say timber stacks present a danger to members of the public, particularly children who like climbing over them.
They have warned people to stay off timber stacks for their safety.
The timber stacks come from trees cut down in Cannock Chase as the forest is a working one.
A machine called a Harvester is used to cut down trees and dismantle them into specific sized pieces, which takes only a matter of minutes.
The machine is computer guided and operators punch numbers into the system to get desired sizes of timber.
When trees are cut down, the Forestry Commission finds new areas of land within the forest to plant new trees. The operation is a conservation effort.
