A NEW weapon is to be used in the fight to save Tavistock?s most famous tree ? and it comes from the nearest zoo.

The Honour Oak, on the borders of Tavistock and Whitchurch, is more than 300 years old but is now decaying and needs urgent work to bring it back to health.

Members of the town council?s properties committee heard last week that a supply of fertiliser has already been bought to nourish the ancient tree, before work is carried out by a tree surgeon to reduce its height.

The other factor contributing to the tree?s demise is that dog owners in the area are allowing their animals to use the grassed area around the tree?s roots as a canine convenience.

Cllr Peter Jones, chairman of the council?s finance committee, had the answer.

?Lion poo,? he said. ?If we put lion droppings round the base of the tree, it will keep the dogs away,? he said.

Town clerk Roger Howard said he would be treating the suggestion seriously.

He said: ?It sounds funny but I?ve heard it does keep animals away.

?This tree is dying, partly because people have used it as a dog toilet for many years and apart from building a 12ft wall round it, there?s not much we can do.

?This might be a good idea, if we can discourage people to keep their dogs away from it.?

Col Howard said he would be contacting the nearest zoo to see if a supply of lion droppings could be obtained.

?I?m sure they?ve had people like me asking for this sort of thing before,? he said.

The council is also planning to aerate the ground around the Honour Oak using a special machine.

This week, the council closed off St John?s Walk in order to fell a leaning beech tree, following an expert?s report which revealed its roots were infected with honey fungus and was a danger to the public.

The properties committee was told that Tavistock Tree Preservation Group was unhappy the tree was being felled and felt less drastic work would have been sufficient.

Col Howard said the council had to ?bend over backwards? where public safety was concerned and unfortunately, in the light of expert opinion, felling was the only option for the tree.