1 week Ago By [email protected] (Edward Barnes)
Paul Stevenson and his neighbours claim they had raised the issue for years A Merseyside man claims he has been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after a tree branch came crashing down into his back garden. During Storm Darragh in early December 2024, a branch overhanging Paul Stevenson's garden in New Ferry, Wirral came smashing into his fence and smashed the back doors of his home. The incident caused his terrified giant schnoodle Stormzy to make a run for it and left Paul having to pay hundreds of pounds to deal with the damage.
Paul and his neighbour Bernie Roach said they have complained for years about the trees on edge of the Oval Football Club's pitches off Graylands Road that tower over their back gardens. Talking about the incident last year, Paul said: “The branches came down and took out my fence at the bottom of the garden and the fence propelled it forward into my patio doors. The dog legged it and it took us the rest of the day to find the dog.
” Paul said he had to take out an insurance claim, paying £700 in excess fees to fix the broken windows. He said the fence hadn’t been fixed yet because he didn’t have the money as he is currently out of work due to cancer treatment. The New Ferry man put a claim in for the damage but the council rejected it.
He told the ECHO he did not need the financial stress and hadn’t expected the council to say no. He said there was "a branch with a huge crack down the middle of it," adding: "Take that off and there will be no problem in the future. They wait for a storm to come and destroy it in an act of god.
“I am worried about this happening again. There's two trees that back onto my properties and are hanging over my garden." Bernie told the ECHO: "They are here twice a week doing the grass but they do not touch the trees.
The only time they will take some action is when some poor person is coming along and a branch will come down." Mr Stevenson said he had been supported by Bromborough councillor Jo Bird. She told the ECHO : “Well managed trees are vital for our wellbeing and for nature.
Like any good neighbour, I would expect Wirral Council to pay for any damage caused by its trees." A Wirral Council spokesperson said: “We have looked into the concerns raised by Mr Stevenson and assessed his claim in relation to damage caused during Storm Darragh. Following a review of the circumstances and our tree inspection records, the council denies liability in this case.
“Storm Darragh carried an amber weather warning from the Met Office with gusts reaching up to 70mph. As a result of the storm, a small number of branches fell from an ash tree located at the rear of Mr Stevenson’s house. “The council acknowledges and takes seriously its legal duty to ‘take reasonable care to prevent foreseeable harm’ in managing its trees.
Our inspection and maintenance records for the trees in this area were up to date and showed no evidence of significant structural defects or hazards prior to the storm. Unfortunately, during extreme weather events such as this, even healthy trees can shed branches without warning and such occurrences are often considered unavoidable and unforeseeable.” Paul said he was hugely disappointed in the outcome describing it as sad and frustrating, adding: "If they aren't next to a main road, there's zero maintenance to the trees.
All the time I have lived here, I can't remember the council coming round to touch the trees.".
