Storm Dudley and Eunice may have caused disruption across the North East over the weekend, but one Northumberland woman is facing 'one disaster after another' attempting to get a tree cleared from her home which fell during Storm Malik.
On Thursday February 10, Chronicle Live reported that a horse chestnut tree which had fallen onto Samantha Taylor's roof on East Farm Terrace in Cramlington had not been cleared since it fell at the end of January.
And after they worked on the tree, Samantha says that tree surgeons from D.A Garden and Landscape Services left a hole in her roof and damaged her conservatory, leaving 'more damage than when it was just the tree resting on it.'
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Sam's house was deemed 'uninhabitable' by a surveyor due to damage when the tree first fell. However, removal wasn't a simple process as it was on the land of a neighbouring property, the Quarrie House Bed and Breakfast. The B&B's owner was responsible for removing the horse chestnut, which was under a preservation order from Northumberland County Council.
Quarrie House owner Abdulla Zarti hired D.A. Garden and Landscape Services and the tree has now been cleared from Sam's roof.
However, there is now a hole in the roof and damage to her conservatory, onto which she says tree surgeons dropped branches. She also claims branches and tiles have been left all over her bedroom floor, while the bed her grandson sleeps in when he comes to stay has been ruined as the ceiling fell onto it.
Sam said: "I think the work was a bit shoddy, there was a complete lack of concern for the damage done to my property. He dropped a big branch onto the roof of my conservatory which wasn’t damaged before but now it is.
"He might not have been able to have avoided the damage in my bedroom but he certainly could have avoided dropping a massive branch through the hole.
"I think the work they’ve been a bit like cowboys if I’m totally honest, but when it came to removing the very large trunk, my neighbour said they did a very good job and it looked as though they knew what they were doing. All of the ropes they had on held it. But I do think there was a complete lack of concern for the damage they were doing to my property."
Darren Armstrong of D.A Garden and Landscape Services disputed Sam's claims and said: "We took as much care as we possibly could. There was a hole in the roof originally, which was revealed when we removed some damaged slates. We had to remove those slates to make it safe and as for the damage on the conservatory, it wasn't caused by a branch, but by masonry on the right side of the roof. When we lifted the branch off the bricks the masonry collapsed.
"And there was another thing - the plasterboard fell through when we were there but we called Sam straight away to let her know. She even came and looked herself and said it was because of the water on top of it.
"We used all of the ropes that we needed and I don't know what else we were meant to do. The property was already extremely damage, we just needed to make it safe."
Sam is still living out of a suitcase at the Premier Inn and still feels that she is in 'limbo.' However, the fact that the tree has now been removed from the roof of her home means that work can proceed to seal it and protect her belongings inside.
Despite the 'nightmare' she has been through, Sam can now at least see a light at the end of the tunnel. She said: "I know there’s more damage to come, because the hole is twice the size and there are bits of tree in my bedroom now, where they’ve just chopped it off and let it fall in. But I know now that things are going to be done so part of me is really relieved that we can get moving so I can see a bit of light at the end of that tunnel, I think that’s the way I feel at the moment."
Sam is also making progress on finding alternative accommodation where she can stay while the work on her house is completed. She said: "I'll be able to have my grandson's stay so that will be good, and at least I'll be able to work from the flat as well."
