David Hoyle: No one to blame over fatal tree crash

David Hoyle was travelling along the A287 when his car was struck

A council was not responsible for a motorist's death when a tree fell onto his car during a storm, a judge ruled.

David Hoyle, 48, was driving west on the A287 between Ewshot and Rye Common, in Hampshire, on 6 June 2017 when the cherry tree collapsed.

An expert for Mr Hoyle's family said "any competent tree inspector" should have spotted defects in the tree, which was about 60-years-old.

But a judge said she was "satisfied no one was to blame" for the accident.

Mr Hoyle, a conservationist, spent much of his working life in Cameroon, where he met his wife.

The David Hoyle Foundation was set up to continue conservation work in the UK and Africa after his death.

His father took legal action against Hampshire County Council and two tree surveyors who had been subcontracted to inspect the tree.

All parties agreed that a "checking frequency" of once about every three years was "appropriate" and that the authority "exceeded" that.

The tree was about 15m to 20m (49.2ft to 65.6ft) tall and had a spread of about 15m to 20m. It was growing beside a drainage ditch.

The expert for Mr Hoyle's family claimed the tree had a "severely imbalanced crown" which lent towards the road and an "asymmetrical root system that had no significant structural roots extending to and beyond the ditch".

Kirsty Brimelow QC, sitting as a deputy High Court judge, said it was "understandable" that Mr Hoyle's family sought "liability against the defendants".

But she said any further checks on the tree would have required the councils and the inspectors "to have done more than was reasonable to ensure safe tree-lined roads".