Islington Council 'warned' over tree that fell in Storm Henk

The tree fell across Lloyd Baker Street in Clerkenwell on Tuesday ( January 2), missing a car by "half an inch".

Tim Bullimore, who lives on the road, says he complained to Islington Council about the tree on August 21.

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"I emailed them in August 2023 drawing attention to my concerns about trees overhanging the highway and I had to wait until October for a response and the response was it's probably scheduled for an inspection next year," the 56-year-old said.

"In the meantime an act of God causes it to fall into the road narrowly avoiding two cars and fortunately not killing or injuring anyone.

"How it missed the car is just incredible."

Tim, a solicitor, told the council the tree "needed to be looked at".

A tree in Lloyd Baker Street, Clerkenwell, fell during Storm Henk which narrowly avoided two parked cars, since moved (Image: Tim Bullimore)

Mr Bullimore did not hear it fall but when he noticed the damage he called the police, who told him to call the fire brigade, who told him to inform the council, with tree surgeons arriving at 10pm that evening.

"The council will say this is something that happens in storms, which is fair comment, but we informed them that this tree was overhanging the highway which is a problem in in itself, irrespective of whether it's stable or not and they took no affirmative action at that stage, which is pretty poor," he said.

"The problem with trees is that they get too big and they don't manage them, that's what the problem is about.

"I'm all in favour of trees but you've got to look after them or they do this, particularly if you've got residents pointing out that the trees need some attention.

"You do your civic duty and the tree falls over."

A spokesperson for Islington Council said inspectors were out on January 3 to clear up debris from trees affected by Storm Henk.

They added that the council conducts inspections every three years on all trees in the borough, including the tree on Lloyd Baker Street.

They said the tree on Lloyd Baker Street was last inspected in 2021, no outward indication of instability or potential tree failure were identified and it was due to be inspected again in 2024.

"Due to Tuesday's strong winds, caused by storm Henk, the tree was uprooted, meaning that the structural stability was compromised below ground with no above ground indication that there was a potential for this to happen," they said.