Starlings roosting in a tree over a path have been leaving bosses at Never Never Land with a slippery problem.

The large flock of birds have regularly been plastering the path by Snow White's cottage with their droppings.

Managers at the children's fantasy fun park on the seafront urged town planners at Southend Council to chop down the ten metre tall pine tree in a bid to ease the problem.

But councillors on the development control sub-committee have decided the tree - which is in a conservation area - can only be felled if it is part of a lottery bid.

John Collins, group manager for development control, said: "If the manager cleans the path, within three days it needs cleaning again.

"However, the slippery slope on its own is not a good enough reason for taking out the tree."

Mr Collins added a number of trees were earmarked for removal as part of a lottery bid to revamp the Cliff Gardens area.

He said if the tree was part of the scheme then no objection would be raised to chopping it down. The other option will be to put a tree preservation order on it.

Officers were given authority to find out if the tree is included in the lottery landscaping scheme and take appropriate action.

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