LEADING sheltered housing association The Hyde Group has come under fire for not taking action to avert a potentially life-threatening accident ‘waiting to happen’ to a vulnerable tenant.

Disabled Fernhurst resident Ruth Catchpole, along with her family and friends, called the association’s Chichester office to warn that a large tree just behind her house had partially fallen on December 8, posing an immediate risk to the property.

A property maintenance staff member made a site visit the following afternoon, but no further action was taken.

Ruth’s worst fears were realised on Friday, December 13, when the tree came down completely, crashing into her roof and a neighbouring property.

Profoundly shaken by her near miss, Ruth said it was “just by complete chance” she was not out in the garden that morning, as it was the time she would normally have been there with her assistance dog for his toileting.

Worse still, the fallen tree has destroyed much of the accessible garden East Hampshire District Council created for her in the summer, which has enabled her to get outside for the first time and has been one of her biggest pleasures.

Ruth said: “It’s beyond belief they allowed this to happen.

“We knew the tree was going to come down. We told them. Everyone was calling Hyde for me.

“It was just by complete chance I was out. I’m never usually away on a Friday and it happened at just the time I go out in the garden with my assistance dog.

“I’m so gutted about my garden. It took three years to get it accessible thanks to a grant from Chichester District Council. Before that I couldn’t go out because it wasn’t level.

“The tree broke the wall, broke the dog toilet area and the vegetable trug that is my gardening therapy.”

Ruth’s mother Jacqueline said: “It’s horrendous. If Ruth had been out there she would have been dead.”

Responding, Hyde’s head of operations, Paul Dew, said: “We can confirm that a tree collapsed onto one of our properties.

“Nobody was hurt, but our resident was moved to temporary accommodation over the weekend as a precaution, whilst we established that her property was safe. A tree surgeon has attended and made the site safe.

“We do not believe there is any significant damage to our resident’s home, but the boundary fence and a shed were damaged. We are working with the resident and their neighbour to make the garden safe before Christmas and will repair any damage early in the New Year.”