Keeping a tree at the centre of protests by local campaigners standing would cost £1m, Haringey Council has warned.
The north London borough has spent nearly a year trying to fell the tree and now claims the cost to taxpayers of protecting it has risen from the previously quoted £400,000.
The 123-year-old plane tree was surrounded by scaffolding at night and protected by up to 12 security guards for several days.
But on Sunday the council took down the scaffolding on Sunday after a High Court judge agreed to hold a judicial review over its future.
The case revolves around two homes that have ongoing claims with insurance companies going back more than a decade.
The companies last year claimed that subsidence issues in the homes were caused by the tree and said it should be chopped down.
A Haringey Council spokesperson said: ‘We have been fighting to save this tree since the original claim was made in 2015 and had no choice other than to look to remove it before the judge’s decision.
‘If the tree remains, the latest estimations tell us the council risks facing an insurance claim of up to £1m, which would be better spent on delivering key frontline services.
‘It is wrong that councils are having to make the choice between saving a tree and paying huge sums of taxpayers’ money or felling a tree so the insurers do not have to pay for tree damage cover.’
