San Francisco, Feb 17 (IANS): Electric Vehicle (EV) maker Tesla has been ordered to halt its work on felling of trees near Berlin to build its first European car and battery Gigafactory facility, in what is being hailed as a victory for environmental activists.

Tesla's Berlin area Gigafactory has been running into trouble even before the EV maker laid the foundation.

The higher administrative court for Berlin-Brandenburg has ordered Tesla to halt forest clearing for the factory while waiting on a decision for a complaint from the environmental activist group Green League of Brandenburg, the Engadget reported on Sunday quoting Autoblog.

The ruling was made by the higher administrative court of the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, comes after the state environmental office gave a go ahead to clear 92 hectares (227 acres) of forest for the Tesla plant.

The dispute highlights the risks for the US carmaker, which has not been officially granted permission to build the factory.

Tesla was, however, granted permission by Germany's environment ministry to begin site preparations "at its own risk", according to a report in the BBC.