AN Ellesmere Port family felt the full force of Storm Eunice last week as an "enormous" oak tree crashed though the garage and shed attached to their home.

Janice Hudston, of Wetherby Way, Little Sutton, said that she and her husband had sent emails to Cheshire West and Chester Council about the potential for a collapse after several years of dealing with large branches falling into their garden.

With the region battered by high speed winds, Storm Eunice brought the large tree down at around 2pm on Friday, February 18, whilst Mrs Hudston, her husband and her three children were in the house.

Mrs Hudston said: "It went through our garage and shed, which my husband uses as his engineering 'man cave'. Normally he would have been inside the garage at that time on a Friday. The damage was extensive."

"The only thing that's still up is the garage door and frontage."

The Ellesmere Port resident says that the tree is on land owned by property developer, Redrow, but that the company had "neglected" the tree and failed to make sure the surrounding area was safe.

"Redrow decided to fence around the tree, even though it is on their land and wouldn't take responsibility for it. My father in law went to look at the roots of the tree and he said that it was half rotten."

Mrs Hudston said that the dangerous incident "nearly cost lives".

Redrow's Technical Manager, Chris Dobson said: "The tree was located to the side of open space at Ledsham Garden Village and was actively cared for within the maintained programme for the site.

"Unfortunately, it came down during the extremely strong winds experienced at the end of last week and impacted neighbouring properties off Wetherby Way.

"Given the impact of the storms over the region we were only able to have the tree assessed by a tree surgeon at the start of this week and we are looking to undertake works to get it removed as soon as we can.

"The removal is unfortunately hampered by the fact the tree is laid within building debris from the garage. We have ensured the area is fenced off from our site and Wetherby Way properties for safety and to secure the boundary of these properties."

The company say that they will be working with the residents to resolve the matter over the coming days.