A video shows the moment an ‘idiotic’ environmental protester clung on to a tree branch while workers tried to feed it into a wood chipper.
The footage was taken in Sheffield and shows the protester desperately holding onto tree branches to stop them being shredded.
It’s unclear when the shocking footage was filmed but the video was posted to Facebook on Wednesday.
While a worker attempts to move the felled trees to put them into the machine, the man, dressed in a tweed jacket and hat, is seen clinging on to try to prevent them from doing so.
Disbelieving onlookers can be seen laughing in the background.
Arb News, a page for forestry and agriculture in the UK, shared the video and said: ‘Must Watch. Seriously, protesters hanging on to limbs while they are trying to feed into the chipper.
‘This is a joke now. Our job is dangerous enough as it is, without complete idiots doing things like this. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below about the situation in Sheffield.’
The protester, dressed in a tweed jacket and hat, clung on to the tree branch as workers tried to feed it into a wood chipper
Some people watched on and even seemed to support the protester.
Locals have been left enraged by Sheffield council’s tree-felling project which includes cutting down 5,500 trees.
Some Sheffield residents have even been arrested trying to protect the trees that are to be felled as part of a 25-year, £2bn highway maintenance scheme.
Locals have been left enraged by Sheffield council’s tree-felling project which includes cutting down 5,500 trees
In an update, three days after they posted the video, the forestry page said that the protester had succeeded in delaying the tree-felling.
It wrote on Facebook: ‘After speaking with the person who is holding on to the branch, his reasons were to delay the removal of any trees on the day. By doing this, he ended up causing a three-hour delay to works, ultimately saving trees and this is one of many reasons why they are protesting.’
However, the page criticised the method of the man’s protest.
It posted: ‘This is directly affecting the tree surgeons doing their job safely that they have been instructed to do to earn a living. If you want to make a difference, target the people who said yes to the works and the ones who hide in the office. Not to the team on the ground.’
Although police can be seen in the video, it is unclear if the man was arrested.
MailOnline have contacted South Yorkshire police for comment.
Sheffield council’s tree-felling programme has come under severe criticism recently.
Earlier this month, council chiefs decided to press ahead with plans to chop down 41 official First World War memorial trees.
They said that contractors had surveyed every street to decide which trees are dead, dying, diseased, dangerous, damaging or could obstruct pedestrians or drivers.
Those in any of these categories are listed to be chopped down under the council’s £2.2 billion private finance deal with contractors Amey to maintain Sheffield’s roads .