A golfer has been suspended by his club after leading a successful protest to save eight trees from being cut down.

Geoff Penhale, 63, was angry when the Lilley Brook Golf Club, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, proposed removing the poplar trees to put in a drainage system.

He hoped to persuade committee members not to press ahead with the plan.

However, Mr Penhale, who has been at the club for 30 years, is now suspended for nine months after his campaign led to the council slapping preservation orders on the trees.

This saddens me deeply, but I will definitely return to the club after the ban Geoff Penhale

Mr Penhale, a retired schoolmaster, told BBC News Online: "The trees are vital for the beauty and golfing prowess of certain holes.

"About 120 of the better golfers at the club have signed a petition to this effect.

"I was hoping initially to persuade the club to take a different path, but once these things start, they have a life of his own."

Mr Penhale says he was never warned about the consequences of his actions, and that he always acted in the best interest of the club.

"This saddens me deeply, but I will definitely return to the club after the ban.

Preservation order

"I am a loyal club member and I do not want to damage the club. Anything that hurts the club, hurts me."

Experts employed by the club said the trees had 10 years of life in them.

Now the club will have to find drainage alternatives after council officials extended a preservation order put in place last summer on the course.

No one from the club was available for comment.