The Government has ordered to felling of thousands of trees on a Dartmouth estate which have been hit by a devastating disease.

The Forestry Commission has issued a felling order involving 15 acres of Japanese larch on the Raleigh estate following the discovery of the disease phytophthora ramorum which has already wiped out swathe of trees across the Westcountry.

And another 70 acres of the trees on another part of the estate could also be at risk.

Huge felling machinery was moved onto the estate this week and felling is likely to start next week. It is expected to take two or three weeks to clear the infected trees.

The 1,000 acre Raleigh estate, to the north of Dartmouth, stretches down to the Dart and includes Old Mill Creek.

Duncan Green, a spokesman for the estate, said the trees that have got to come down were planted 40 years ago and would not have been 'harvested' for another 20 years. 'We are very saddened that this is going to have to happen,' he said.

'They have felled most of the larch in the Plymouth area already. We think this is only the start as far as we are concerned.'

He said that a Forestry Commission helicopter had spotted the disease in just a few trees on the estate and a second flyover was likely to happen in April to see if the disease has spread to any other plantations.

The disease, which also known as sudden oak death, is airborne and trees across Devon, Cornwall and Wale have already been infected.

Helicopter inspections have been carried out to spot the first signs of the infection from the air.

The disease was first discovered in the south west in January 2009.

Early signs of infection include needles turning ginger in colour and losing their greenness. The name sudden oak death comes from the US, where it was first discovered

It can spread across larch trees five times faster than other trees and the best way to control it is to fell the infected trees as soon as possible.

Mr Green pointed out the felling work will be visible across the valley from the Townstal area and he wanted the public to know what work was being carried out.

'People are going to spot what is happening. The last time we did some thinning work we got a lot of telephone calls and complaints asking us why we were cutting down trees,' he said.

Also the trees are growing under electricity power lines and they will have to be shut off while work is continuing.

But he added that it would not affect the power supply to the town.