Tree missed driver by inches

8:20am Friday 12th January 2007

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A WOMAN escaped shocked but unharmed when a large ash tree fell on her car in Woodstock Road, Witney.

Half an hour later, a poplar tree was blown over blocking the same road.

Passerby Richard Wickson spoke to the woman. He said: "She said she was driving along when she heard a big crash and obviously she couldn't drive any further. She got out her car and saw a big tree was on top of the back of it.

"She said she was shocked but very relieved at how lucky she had been. Anyone in the back of the car would have been seriously injured. She was incredibly lucky."

A police officer who attended the crash added: "She was so lucky. It missed her by about 12 inches."

Katy Brown, a media consultant, was standing in her kitchen and saw the poplar tree fall.

She said: "It's absolutely extraordinary no one was hurt. It's a very busy road."

Workmen from the town and district councils chopped up the trees and took the debris away. Woodstock Road was reopened by 1.30pm.

The poplar tree also damaged the roof of a house in Woodgreen.

Janine Howells, of Witney Town Council, said: "The tree was visually checked last year by the county council. We will now be doing X-ray checks on all the poplar trees on Woodgreen."

Click here for more on how the storm affected the county.