A WOMAN leapt to safety as a branch from a falling tree broke through her car's windscreen and nearly impaled her.
Margaret Cooper had just parked her car in Homefield Gardens, Tadworth, on Sunday evening when a nearby tree came crashing down on the bonnet.
Mrs Cooper, 60, leapt out of the car to safety and was stunned to watch a branch smash through the windscreen right where she had been sitting.
The Banstead resident told the Mirror: "I just managed to get out of the car as the branch came through.
"I could have died.
"It was already coming down as I opened my door and I was lucky I just got out in time. The whole branch came through the windscreen and I would have been a goner if I was still sitting there.
"I kept crying when I went to bed that night, it was so close."
Mrs Cooper was on her way to have dinner with her son and daughter when the tree fell.
In fact her daughter noticed the fallen tree and tried to warn her, unaware it had nearly hit her.
Mrs Cooper told the Mirror: "My daughter was already in Tadworth and she phoned my son and said 'can you tell mum not to park up here, the road is blocked because a tree has come down'.
"She didn't realise it was my car that got hit."
Despite the remnants of Hurricane Bertha causing strong wind and rain over the weekend, Mrs Cooper says the weather was fairly calm as she arrived in Tadworth.
She believes Raven Housing Trust, which she claims owns the land the tree is on, knew it was dangerous. "It could have been prevented," she said.
"Neighbours came out and said they had reported the tree as a danger and I have spoken to Raven about it.
"I think it's disgusting."
Mrs Cooper's car had to be sent to a garage for bonnet and windscreen repairs.
Raven spokesman Jamie Smith said: "At 5pm on Sunday we received a report of a tree falling on a car at Homefield Gardens, Tadworth, and worked with the Highways Agency and Fire Service to remove it.
"We take the safety of our residents, and the wider community, very seriously, and survey our trees every three years. We will be looking into the issues with the tree in question to determine the problem."
