Trees uprooted in St Julian's a few days ago were a threat to native species and too old to be replanted elsewhere, the Environment and Resources Authority has claimed. 

It said 13 olive trees will now be planted in Wied Għomor to make up for the loss. 

The authority was reacting to social media uproar after footage uploaded online showed bulldozers felling a group of trees in St Julian's. 

It said the trees were of an invasive species and therefore not protected under environmental legislation. The Agriculture Department had confirmed that the trees were also too old to be replanted in a contained environment such as a garden, the ERA added.

The ERA admitted that the existing legal framework was not ideal, saying that it and the Environment Ministry were in the process of evaluating how trees "which are not ecologically significant, but are of social value, are still afforded protection under environmental legislation."

Amended regulations would be issued for public consultation "in due course", it said.