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Gales escape
Reporter: Erin Heywood
Date online: 31 January 2013
OAP inches from being crushed
Gale-force winds left a trail of damage and lucky escapes across Oldham yesterday.
A man in his 60s escaped with only minor injuries after being hit by a falling tree, which a low wall prevented from crushing him.
And a grandmother from Chadderton saw her car seriously damaged by a falling lamp post.
The tree was uprooted in Broadway, Chadderton; a branch hit the pensioner on the head, knocked him unconscious and trapped him underneath. It came to rest on a low wall and railings. Passing police stopped to help the man, who managed to scramble out after coming round. He was taken to hospital for further treatment.
Ian Lacey of Highbarn Motorcycles - directly opposite the accident site - said: “I could tell it had definitely dazed him, he was talking but looked very shaken up.”
Linda Howard, who lives in Melrose Court, left her Ford Fiesta outside her home when the lamp fell in the early afternoon, just minutes after the fallen tree.
The post collapsed on the car, smashing the front window and crushing the roof.
“I feel like crying,” said Linda. I’ve had the car since it was new and I loved it. I’ll have to get a cheap one now to replace it. I was going to give it to my granddaughter on her 18th birthday because she loves it, so she’s going to be very upset.”
The incidents came in a four-hour period of high winds around the region.
Comments
I blame Oldham council for these gales and any other bad weather we recieve!!!
Flake do you ever have anything positive to say about Oldham - close the door when you leave
these gales came from the north east,Saddleworth,I recon
This article and Flakes response got me thinking. We used to have some fantastic trees in Oldham (and other areas) and many have been cut down due to 'health and safety'. Does that mean Councils were cutting down trees because they could be held liable for accidents, or was that simply an excuse to cut down trees with preservation orders and fob off any opposition?
Have Your Say
"I’ll have to get a cheap one now to replace it"
Surely the council will have to pay to replace the car like for like, after all it's their lamp post which has fallen over and should be expected to withstand high wind. They charge motorists who damage street furniture in accidents so it seems fair they pay damages when it's reversed.
By Flake @ 31/01/2013 15:13:34