Ancient pear tree in path of HS2 rail route wins Woodland Trust prize

250-year-old Cubbington pear named tree of the year after public vote but is set to be felled to make way for transport scheme

There is good news and bad news for the 250-year-old Cubbington pear tree, one of the oldest and largest wild pears in Britain. The good news is that it has scooped the Woodland Trust tree of the year title after attracting more than 10,000 votes from members of the public. The bad news is that its hilltop site in Warwickshire is in the proposed path of the HS2 train line.

HS2 planners say that because the tree has a hollow trunk it would be impossible to move elsewhere, but promise that it will be propagated from cuttings.