NEARLY half of English neighbourhoods have less than 10 per cent tree cover, with lower-income areas having far fewer trees than wealthier ones, analysis has found.

The country's tree cover is just 12.8 per cent, according to the research by Friends of the Earth, with only 10 per cent made up by woodland. This pales in comparison with the EU, where woodland cover stands at 38 per cent.

While the UK government aims to increase tree cover to 16.5 per cent by 2050 under plans to reach net zero and protect biodiversity, campaigners say this is not sufficient, calling for tree numbers to be doubled.

READ MORE: Half of English neighbourhoods have 'less than 10 per cent' tree cover, study finds

Carried out on behalf of Friends of the Earth by mapping experts Terra Sulis, the analysis has for the first time identified lone trees and street trees in England using laser imaging, bolstering previous research that accounted only for trees in woodlands and those clustered in smaller groups.

It found that 43 per cent of neighbourhoods in England have less than 10 per cent tree canopy cover, while 84 per cent have less than 20 per cent coverage.

Some areas have far less tree cover than others, the research found. South Holland in Lincolnshire has been found to have the lowest tree cover in the country at only 2.2 per cent, with Boston and the City of London also performing poorly. 

The bottom 10 local authorities for tree cover can be found in the table below. 

Surrey Heath (36.1 per cent), Bracknell Forest (35.4 per cent) and Waverly (34.0 per cent) made up the top three.