A Bristol father is face-to-face with an £85,000 debt after losing a legal battle against the city council over a fallen tree that destroyed his garden.
James Williams, 45, sued Bristol City Council after a 30ft ash tree crashed onto his property, but the court ruled the council was not liable for the damages.
The dad-of-four claims he repeatedly warned officials about the dangerous tree for 18 months before it fell.
The massive tree came crashing down in October 2020, smashing through the family's newly completed swimming pool, a trampoline, and a summer house.
The resident's wife had given birth just a few days before the arboreal horror (Stock)
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"It was like a scene from The Wizard of Oz," said Leanne Williams, James' wife. "The pool and trampoline had been completely crushed and there was smashed glass and wood everywhere from the summer house."
The family's home insurance only covered £3,400 of the £28,000 in damages.
Williams says he first reported issues with the tree in May 2019, when his wife Leanne told the council that large branches were falling into their garden and the local authority promised to chop it down.
A month later, Leanne made another complaint after hearing the tree might have had ash dieback disease and that it was 'dead'.
A council tree officer visited in June and noted there was "die present in the upper and middle canopy" but determined there were "no other signs of significant disease" and "no imminent risk of failure to the stem of the tree".
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The officer suggested the tree should be "monolithed" that September, reducing it to a height of four metres or less.
But the tree was never felled or monolithed before it collapsed.
Williams lodged a civil claim at Bristol County Court against the council, which went to trial in February this year.
The judge was "not persuaded" that the council's tree officer had "missed anything visually", according to the court's judgement.
The court ruled that the decisions made by the officer were within "a range of reasonable decisions" a body of tree officers would regard as appropriate.
The case was subsequently dismissed with the council deemed not liable.
Williams lodged a civil claim at Bristol County Court against the council, which went to trial in February this year
GETTY
"We could have been killed by it if we were outside - I still have nightmares about it," James said.
The ordeal has been particularly stressful for the entire family, including their four children.
Leanne had just given birth days before the tree fell during the peak of lockdown as James recounted that it was the "worst possible timing to not have a garden".
"We were going to fill the pool that day - I got up early in the morning, and when I looked out, it was a shock. The tree had hit the wall of our daughters' bedrooms. It has all been a nightmare," he said.
Four years later, James fumed that his garden remained "dishevelled" although he had started "clearing away the brambles and debris".
GB News has approached Bristol City Council for comment.
