Couple want council to pay after branches hit store room

AN ELDERLY couple is insisting their council should pay for the damage caused to their property after tree branches smashed through their roof.

The building, owned by Angela Muggleton, 69, and her husband Alan, 70, was damaged in August after branches from a nearby oak tree came crashing through the roof of their store room.

The couple, from Pengam in Caerphilly, said the branches have causes thousands of pounds worth of damage to the building and the contents.

However, Caerphilly Council (CCBC) has sent a letter telling the couple that they won’t be fronting up the cash for repairs.

The council accepted the tree was council-owned but said “a local authority is not necessarily liable for damage caused by a fallen tree/ branch”.

Mrs Muggleton said: “I had received a letter from CCBC denying liability and we have had to clear tonnes of rubbish where the roof fell in.”

She added that she and her husband were lucky not to have been killed in the incident.

“Normally on Sunday morning we’re usually gardening and back and forth getting tools out of the building.”

The 69-year-old said as well as damage to the roof, tools they had collected over the years had also been ruined.

She added: “We’ve had quotes for building to be repaired and together with the ruined tools, it’s about £7,000.

“We thought because it was a tree belonging to the council, there would be no question about them clearing debris and repairing damage to our property.”

Caerphilly Council said the authority’s insurance team are “currently reviewing the file”.