THE Elsmore trio have taken the campaign to stop the sale of the Forest up another notch ... by writing to Her Majesty the Queen.

And now Jasmin, 11, Harriet, 10, and Tomas, 7, have heard back from the Palace that Queen Elizabeth has read their letter. And she says while she cannot help on matters of government she thanks them for their letter and their concern.

She also wishes the Elsmore family a Happy New Year!

Their letter reads: "Dear your Majesty, our Queen – as a child I am very concerned into the fact my home, my history, my future will be destroyed by the new owner of the Royal Forest of Dean. Ourselves, friends, family and other community members feel very strongly about the sale of our beautiful Forest. We have lots of wild animals and our beautiful bluebells are the best in the world.

"Do you remember coming to our Forest in 1952, and you planted two oak trees? My nan told me all about it. I am sure you thought the Forest was wonderful just like we do. We are putting yellow ribbons round as many trees as we can so everyone knows about it.

"Please help us save our Forest. We need your help urgently."