Toby Carvery owner faces eviction from north London site for felling ancient oak

Enfield council said the ‘centuries-old tree, sometimes known as the Guy Fawkes oak, was an irreplaceable part of Enfield’s natural heritage’. Photograph: James Veysey/Rex/Shutterstock

The restaurant chain Toby Carvery is facing eviction from one of its sites after taking a chainsaw to an ancient oak tree without the permission of its council landlord.

The partial felling last April of the 500-year-old oak on the edge of a Toby Carvery car park in Whitewebbs Park, Enfield, provoked widespread public dismay and fury from Enfield council, which leases the land to the restaurant’s owners Mitchells & Butlers Retail (M&B).