A Northumberland woman has been living in a hotel for several days and says that she is 'in limbo' after a tree fell onto the roof of her house.
Sam Taylor, a wheelchair services manager who lives in Cramlington, is facing swapping her home for rented accommodation for the next six months after a surveyor deemed the house 'uninhabitable.'
Storm Malik, in which winds of up to 90mph battered the North East, blew a horse chestnut tree onto Sam's roof on East Farm Terrace on January 29 and she has been living in a Premier Inn ever since.
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Sam said: "I'm homeless, basically. I'm just living out of the Premier Inn. It's not very pleasant. And my cat, god bless him, has moved in with the neighbour next door because the heating's not on.
"I'm just in limbo really. It's been two weeks and the tree's still there and doesn't look as if it's ever going to be moved.
"I'm living in a hotel room, I work from home most of the time. Because I work with vulnerable people I have to have a secure network so I can't always work from the hotel and I have to go to my parents."
Though Sam has managed to stay in a hotel and has had the support of her parents, she says that her life has been disrupted. She said: "I usually have my youngest grandson on a Friday night and then all three of my grandsons on alternate Fridays but I can't do that."
She has also had to alter plans to host a family get together for her son's 30th birthday at their home. She said: "My eldest daughter lives in London and my son lives in Hitchen. They're travelling up and have to stay in hotel accommodation now. Everyone's scattered around so we can't spend the time together in the way we would have at home in a restaurant."
The tree is on the land of the Quarrie House Bed and Breakfast, meaning that its owner is responsible for removing the tree from Sam's roof.
However, a preservation order from Northumberland County Council prevents the cutting down, topping, lopping, uprooting, wilful damage, or wilful destruction of it.
Sam says that neither the owner of the Quarrie House nor Northumberland County Council have done enough to remove the tree. She said: "If they'd got the tree off fairly quickly, which they could have done because a lot of tree surgeons are 24/7, the damage probably wouldn't be as bad as it is.
"The county council, other than their structural engineer, have been no help whatsoever. They've washed their hands of it because it's a private property. They put up two little strips of plastic up to stop people walking down the footpath, and it was only the other day they put barriers up which were promptly blown over."
Abdulla Zarti, owner of the Quarrie House said: "I’ve used all my friends here to contact tree surgeons and to get prices and find anybody who’s the quickest to do this job. They’ve not succeeded. (They have told us) the road has to be closed and we need to contact the council to close the road and this is extra money and extra time. I’m going to do my best to do it the quickest way that I can. This is something force majeure that’s out of hand.
"I'm trying to fix it for my benefit not just the neighbour. I need this tree to be moved as quickly as possible."
A spokesperson for Northumberland County Council said: "We are aware of the issue and have advised the owner of the tree of their obligations to arrange its removal, which we understand they are in the process of doing so.
"The tree is firmly wedged against the house and is not posing an immediate danger to the public and the path has been barriered off as a precautionary public safety measure.
"However, we do sympathise with the affected homeowner and, given the time that has now elapsed and as the tree in its current position does present a danger to pedestrians, the Council will now consider use of its statutory powers as a Highways Authority to legally oblige the owner to arrange its removal within a prescribed timeframe and in default of their doing so, will undertake its removal and recover the costs from the owner of the tree."
