Brewing giant Heineken cuts down orchard the size of 140 football pitches

BREWING giant Heineken has cut down an orchard the size of 140 football pitches triggering fears for wildlife as it is a natural bird habitat.

The company which owns Bulmers cider has uprooted thousands of trees at the Penrhos Orchard in Monmouthshire on the Offa's Dyke path.

Heineken wants to sell the land after the recent demand for cider plummeted.

The apple trees at Penrhos Orchard were planted in 1997 and covered nearly 300 acres of land.

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Heineken insists it has acted in line with the Wildlife Act after environmentalists said they were concerned about the impact on migratory bird populations.

Ecologist Chris Formaggia told the BBC he had kept watch on the various birds that had been in the trees.

He said: "At this time now all the trees would be in their full blossom.

“It would be a really impressive area so the changes are absolutely total, really."

The biggest impact, Mr Formaggia stated, was on wintering thrush species such as fieldfare and redwing that eat autumn berries then move on to "wind-blown apple crops".

"So this orchard was absolutely teeming with these winter thrushes," he added.

"I think inevitably there will be a big loss here, particularly with those wintering populations.

"That foraging and that safety of the trees has gone and it’s not going to be replaced."

Many took to X (formerly Twitter) to speak of their anger over the tree felling.

Bardsea-Green Films, @BardseaGrnFilms, claimed that there had been "such a tragic disregard for wildlife and migratory birds".

Heineken told the BBC it was "incredibly important" that it acted "responsibly and sustainably at all times".