Man injured after more than 20 trees fall on road

A man has been left seriously injured after a large number of trees were brought down onto a Cotswolds road during Storm Darrragh.

He was struck by a tree on the A436, between Notgrove and Bourton-on-the-Water, while out walking with his wife. The couple were holidaying in the county.

The incident took place around 20:41 GMT on 7 December when Gloucestershire was largely under a yellow wind warning.

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) said the man was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital for treatment.

Gloucestershire County Council said 20 trees would be cleared from the A436 road, which will be closed for a week.

Drone footage posted to the council's YouTube channel, taken by BGG Garden & Tree Care Ltd, showed the trees completely blocking the road and residents' driveways.

A red warning for wind was issued for coastal Wales and coastal Somerset - covering much of the nearby Bristol Channel at the weekend.

Gusts hit more than 90 miles per hour (144km p/h) in areas around the mouth of the River Severn during the storm.

'Challenging time'

Paul Dadge, a resident who lives on the A436, said his driveway is "fully blocked" by the trees.

Speaking to BBC Radio Gloucestershire, the painter said the couple told him they could see the trees "swaying" before they fell.

"He actually had to get winched up out of the debris and unfortunately he was drawn out with a broken pelvis," Mr Dadge said.

Another resident said the trees came down like "candles being knocked over".

He said: "It was really frightening because when they started coming, one would come down, then another minute you'd hear a crack and another one would come down."

The trees that fell belonged to a private landowner, according to Daniel Tiffney, deputy area highways manager at Gloucestershire County Council.

Mr Tiffney said the weekend was "a challenging time" for his team.

"For the A436 in particular, there are 50-60 trees down just on that one site, across a 400m stretch of carriageway," he said.

"They are particularly big trees that the guys are dealing with so we've got our specialist contractors on site there."

Mr Tiffney said the trees were being chopped up and chipped, with the removal of the fallen trees expected to reach completion next week.

"We want to clear those trees and get the road open for the public again," he said.

"Once we have cleared the trees, we will be working with the landowner, who we're already in contact with, to do an assessment on the trees that are still standing in place to make sure they're safe."