EXPERTS have warned a historic elm tree which suffered massive damage last weekend may now be at risk of succumbing to a deadly disease.

One of the two mighty 400-year-old Preston Twins in Preston Park was damaged on Saturday when heavy rain and high winds caused two large boughs to rip away from the hollow trunk of the tree.

Despite a swift and expert response by council staff, the tree, which survived the Dutch Elm plague of the 1970s and the hurricane of 1987, is now a target for the beetle which spreads Dutch Elm disease.

Peter Bourne, national elm collection voluntary curator, told The Argus: “At the moment, it’s really at risk.

“The fresh wounds of the tree will be releasing pheromones which attract the elm disease beetle.

“The beetles are active at this time of the year which is why the trees are not usually pruned during the summer months.”

In order to prevent infection, the council’s City Parks team will coat the tree’s wounds in a special, latex-based solution which will seal them.

Mr Bourne explained: “They try to reduce the pheromone attraction to the beetles, which look for wounded trees. The pheromone is released from under the bark so it’s crucial this is done quickly.”

The once-proud tree, the trunk of which measures more than six metres around, is also at risk of further structural damage.

Mr Bourne explained: “It’s in a bit of a perilous state.

“The trunk is compromised and will, in all probability, have to have a band around it to hold it together.

“The band will hold the bole - that’s the trunk - together.

“Basically the trunk suffered severe damage owing to the branches falling off.

“This will be a precaution - the shock to the tree will have been immense.

“The branches were so heavy it’s like balancing a mini on a domino, they tore into the tree and have left gaping holes. So now the tree is at risk of collapsing.”

City Parks’s arboricultural team boss Neil Brothers is also understood to be considering “trenching” the tree. That process involves digging a protective trench around an infected tree - or in this case a tree prone to infection - in order to prevent the spread of disease through the roots system.

Elms are relatively shallow-rooted so the trench would not need to penetrate deeper than the under-soil chalk layer.

Plastic fencing is being erected around the damaged trunk, and a larger and more permanent protective fence is being considered.

Sue Shepherd, of Friends of Preston Park, said: “It’s been reduced significantly now, there’s only about 25 per cent of what it was originally.

“The major branches that haven’t gone have been significantly reduced. It looks very very sad.

“The Twins are not the largest in the world, but they’re up there.

“We believe they are up there in the top five largest English Elms in the world. The largest ones are in Australia.”

She added: “People are still coming up to me ashen faced about this, this tree is dearly loved by everyone who uses the park.”