Our ancient woodlands are being bulldozed | Patrick Barkham

An area forested since 1600 - as Smithy Wood in Sheffield has been - should not be turned into a motorway service station, surely. But there is little protection

Smithy Wood can be traced back to the 11th century. Long-eared and soprano pipistrelle bats fly among its oaks. Marsh tits, badgers and dingy skipper butterflies make their home in this ancient woodland, on green belt surrounding the famously tree-rich city of Sheffield.

Twenty acres of this unique wood will be bulldozed to build a pleasantly leafy service station by junction 35 of the M1, if the city council approves a move that could undermine the status of ancient woodland across Britain. Extra Motorway Services has enlisted Forbes-Laird Arboricultural Consultancy (Flac) to help its application. It claims to "secure 'impossible' planning permissions, including in ancient woodland and historic landscapes". This isn't an idle boast. Ancient woodland - places proven to have been forested since 1600, with uniquely rich, pesticide-free soils - is under siege. Flac succeeded with a housing application imperilling part of the ancient Bluebell Woods in Kent, and is involved in others.

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