The mature Scots pine is in the grounds of St Peter's Parish Church in West Blatchington, West Sussex

In the Bible the usual form of destruction from the sky is fire and brimstone, raining down from Heaven in a flurry of Old Testament retribution.

Parishioners in Hove, the well-to-do seaside resort in East Sussex, are similarly fearful of projectiles from the sky, but ones that have an earthly source.

The threat of pine cones falling from an 18m mature Scots pine tree in the courtyard of St Peter’s Parish Church is considered so great that Chicester consistory court has ruled that it must be chopped down in a case brought by the church after two passers-by were struck.

The Worshipful Mark Hill, QC, appreciated the splendour of the tree, but deemed that the size and weight of an estimated 130 pine cones were