Scare-tree: The enormous beech, left, resembles the Ents that feature in the Hollywood blockbuster Lord Of The Rings, left, that attack Isengard and manage to flood it

These terrifying trees are unlikely to attract children keen on climbing them.

With its haunting frame and looming arms, one particular beech looks like it has just leapt out of a set for the smash-hit movie Lord Of The Rings.

The spooky specimen, suspected to be an oak, was spotted by Charlotte Laurie on a quiet country lane at Boxted, near Colchester, Essex.

Artist Laurie, known as Busky, spotted the monstrous tree and said it appeared to be marching across fields to terrorise the roads.

Busky, 84, who lives nearby, said: ‘It looks like a really grumpy old woman".

‘It’s a wonderful thing to look at. The head is down and the arms are stretched out, it’s a wonderfully old tree.

‘But I’m not quite as old as the tree!’

If the ghost-like shape of the tree was not spooky enough, Miss Laurie said her neighbour often spots a small owl on it on her way home from work.

The Hammer Horrors tree, sits on Sky Hall Hill, Boxted.