PARK lovers have accused council workmen of destroying the homes of wild birds by cutting down undergrowth ahead of a Green Flag Award inspection.

Last night Oxford City Council apologised for cutting the shrubbery during nesting season but could not explain why it had happened.

Workmen arrived in Cutteslowe Park on Monday, sawing off branches and hacking back undergrowth on the island in the centre of the park’s duck pond – despite the park’s Friends group warning officers not to carry out the work until after the nesting season. Onlookers warned workmen they could threaten coots, moorhens and ducks still in their mothers’ nests, and say some of the birds have not been spotted since.

The council admitted the work should not have been carried out during the nesting season.

Spokesman Louisa Dean said: “We had to clear some of the area underneath the trees to gain access to the area. We will be providing some additional habitat on the island to accommodate the existing wildlife.”

Park user Suzanne McIvor, pictured second left, from Talbot Road, North Oxford,said the work was “tantamount to vandalism”.

She said: “It has left young ducklings, moorhens and coots with insufficient natural cover.”