Large tree falls on Plympton man's BMW an hour after he parks up with young daughter

A large tree crushed a Plympton man's BMW just an hour after he had got out of it with his six-year-old daughter.

Storm Antoni arrived in the South West on Saturday 5 August, causing disruption to public transport and large power cuts.

Keith and Bev Sibley said their 27-year-old son had parked onto their driveway in The Knoll, Plympton, and got out of the car with his daughter just an hour before the tree toppled over.

The tree crashed down onto the car and ripped down a BT line in The Knoll.

The couple claim they repeatedly warned Plymouth City Council the tree was going to fall - but were told it was safe.

The council has apologised for any distress caused and says an assessment found the tree was healthy and stable and at "low risk" of falling. A spokesperson said an inspection after the tree fell found it had white rot, but there is "no way" the authority could have known this from its inspection.

Bev Sibley said CCTV from her home showed the tree toppled over at 2.55pm on Saturday 5 August.

She said photos taken of the tree show the base appeared to be rotted, suggesting it had been damaged for some time.

Mrs Sibley said: "Thankfully, our son and granddaughter had gone into our house just an hour before the tree came down. It's damaged the windscreen of his car, the bonnet, the roof, there's scratches all over it.

"It was his pride and joy and he paid for it all himself. He had to get a couple of friends to come out and cut up part of the tree just so he could get his car out and get to his own home.

"Some council contractors have been out this evening to cut it up and I do wonder how much that's cost. We have CCTV looking out and I'm in the house each day, and I don't recall anyone inspecting the tree. 

"For many years the tree was getting worse and worse and we were warning the council that they needed to act."

In response, a Plymouth City Council spokesman said: "Our tree officers visited this tree earlier this year and assessed it for risk using the widely used Quantified Tree Risk Assessment test.

"Although we would never describe any tree as 'safe', we found it be a healthy, stable specimen and at low risk of falling.

"An inspection of the stump after it fell found the tree to be suffering from white rot, a condition that affects the flexibility of a tree, making it unable to bend in the wind, particularly the kind of winds we saw at the weekend.

"There is no way we could have known this from our inspection and we apologise to the resident for any distress caused."