71-year-old Kelly Singh Garcha instructed workmen to clear a garden in Osterley last year without applying for consent from the Council.

The trees were cut down and their root system was methodically removed, to leave no traces of them.

The felling coincided with a planning application submitted for the development of five flats at the property.

The application included car parking proposals believed to have motivated the illegal clearance of trees.

Mr Garcha pleaded not guilty but was found guilty by a court and fined £6,000, and told to pay a victim surcharge bringing the total to £13,400.