Leaves picked off Westminster trees A woman was seen picking leaves off trees in Wesminster this week The gardener said she was 'pleaching' the trees to save their leaves MPs said it was 'more time efficient' than collecting once they had fallen Gardening staff at the Houses of Commons have been tasked with stripping leaves from the trees on the Parliamentary estate. Yesterday a woman was seen manually plucking leaves from a ring of some 50 Lime Trees in New Palace Yard at the foot of Big Ben. House of Commons officials said taking the leaves from the trees was "more time efficient" than allowing them to fall and then picking them up. Officials at the House of Commons have been accused of wasting money after paying gardeners to cut the leaves off trees instead of letting them fall off naturally Staff were seen hard at work pruning the leaves off of a ring of around 50 lime trees in New Palace yard at the foot of Big Ben yesterday (pictured) But critics said taking the leaves down was a "thoroughly pointless waste of money." And the move also sparked claims the authorities were "cancelling Autumn." The gardener, Annabel Honeybun, said she was "pleaching" the trees Miss Honeybun said: "I am not picking leaves off the trees, I am cutting them individually down to the second bud so they keep their shape. I am doing some mini-pollarding but they do look nice after they have done. I wouldn't pick leaves off. These are lime trees are so old and they have not been "pleached" for years, so we have to keep their shape. We do it once a year. We are basically keeping them in the shape you see every summer. They have got quite shallow roots. Miss Honeybun is one of two gardeners charged with maintaing the flowers and green spaces in the Palace of Westminster. By the end of yesterday, leaves had been removed from around two thirds of the trees. A spokesman for the House of Commons said: "If we waited for the leaves to fall off it would waste a lot of time raking them up. It is more time efficient. A woman was seen handpicking leaves off trees at Westminster yesterday, claiming she was 'pleaching' them before they all fell off Two years ago it emerged taxpayers were picking up a bill of almost £400,000 in Portcullis House (pictured) She added: "The House of Commons employs a gardening service which covers maintenance of more than 145 trees on the Parliamentary estate as well as all grassed areas, planted areas, indoor plants, containers and window boxes. It is not possible to separate the cost of removing leaves from the trees in New Palace Yard from the wider cost of the gardening contract. The leaves are removed each winter as a more time-efficient alternative to raking fallen leaves. It is not the first time the Commons authorities have been accused of wasting money on trees. Two years ago it emerged taxpayers were picking up a bill of almost £400,000 to rent 12 fig trees in Portcullis House, the MPs office block across the road from the Commons. The trees sit in a vast, glass-roofed atrium which houses a coffee bar, restaurant and dining room for MPs, staff and journalists. The trees were imported from Florida and planted in the building, as part of a five year contract. Each cost £32,500 a year to rent, including the cost of maintaining the evergreen trees. Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers" Alliance, added: "What a thoroughly pointless waste of money this is. We need to leave spending like this behind.