PLANS to fell 85 trees along a railway line in Anerley are pointless, according to residents.

Railtrack has asked Bromley Council for permission to cut down the Sycamores, which are up to 40 years old, along the track at Birkbeck Station, which runs along the back of Warwick Road.

The company says the trees need to be felled because of health and safety considerations, including leaves on the line. But train operator South Central will be fitting revolutionary sand boxes, which release a sandy glue to stop trains slipping on leaves, to all the trains going through Birkbeck station by this autumn.

Maria Jaczniakowska, of Warwick Road, who handed Bromley Council a petition with 395 signatures against the plans said: "With the operating company doing this, it throws Railtrack's argument out of the window."

Concerned about wildlife and whether the banks will collapse if the trees are felled, she added the signals nearest the station were not near the trees in question.

A Railtrack spokesman said it needed to fell the trees so drivers could see the signals in time to react and to give engineers space to walk safely along the track.