HOMEOWNERS had a lucky escape after a massive ancient tree collapsed on to part of a property in a busy road in Colchester.

The tree toppled over due to high winds in the early hours of Sunday morning, hitting the garage attached to a property in Lexden Road, near to the street’s junction with Lockhart Avenue.

On its way down to the ground the tree damaged two parked cars and narrowly missed a third, leaving the garage with a hole in its roof and extensive damage inside.

Resident Peter Schott’s vehicle was trapped under the weight of the tree until yesterday, when experts were able to attend and remove it from the area.

He said: “Our car is damaged and took the load of the tree, which needs a tree specialist to remove it.

“Luckily my daughter’s car, which is normally in the spot where it fell was parked in the layby that night.

“The tree also went through the garage roof.”

Mr Schott said the same tree also caused problems for residents in Lexden Road in September.

The road had to be closed off for several hours after it fell into the street, luckily missing parked cars and children on their way to the nearby schools.

Traffic had to be diverted whilst emergency services removed the section of the tree from the road.

Mr Schott said residents had been attempting to get the tree removed ever since but had been awaiting approval from the council as it was protected.

He said: “Authorisation never came through despite repeated requests and highlighting the potential risk of falling either onto the house or into the road and possibly hitting a passing car or pedestrians.

“In particularly school children as Lexden Road has many schools and is very busy at school arriving and leaving times.”

The tree was set to be removed by specialists yesterday.