Fallen tree on path sparks safety fears

10:00am Friday 29th August 2008

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PEOPLE walking along a Kidderminster pathway are in danger of being hit by a falling tree which is only being held up by ivy, it has been claimed.

The public right of way backs on to the garden of Ann Carroll, of Stourbridge Road, who is fearful that a sudden gust of wind could cause the tree to come crashing down.

Mrs Carroll told the Shuttle/Times & News she believed someone had cut through the tree sometime over the weekend and is calling for it to be felled before someone is hurt.

She added that the bridleway, which is between her home and The Foxholes, is used regularly by people walking into the town centre.

She said: “The bridleway is pretty but many of the trees are falling and causing problems for people walking along there.

“If we get a good gust of wind the tree will come crashing down. I’m concerned because if someone happened to be walking along that pathway and it was windy, it’s going to fall down on them. It doesn’t have to be a big tree for it to hurt someone.”

Anthony Ward, another Stourbridge Road resident, said he refuses to walk along the pathway while the tree is hanging for fear that it will fall.

The 70-year-old said: “The tree has been cut down at the bottom. The people who cut it couldn’t get the tree out as it was stuck between another tree. They have just left the trunk hanging.

“It’s dangerous because all that’s holding it is an ivy wrapped around two trees.

“I’m worried about the safety of people going past there. If it’s windy the tree will fall down.”

A Worcestershire County Council spokeswoman said: “The track off Stourbridge Road in Kidderminster, that backs on to the properties 391 to 397, is not recorded on the definitive map of public rights of way, nor is it an adopted highway.

“We can clarify that the work carried out on the trees was not ordered by the Countryside Service at the county council.”