A PENSIONER has described her shock after part of a rotten tree fell and crushed her car.

A branch of the chestnut tree landed on top of Ann Warren’s red Seat after heavy rain on Saturday night.

She discovered the mess in the car park outside her flat in Elizabeth Jennings Way, North Oxford, when she got up on Sunday morning.

Mrs Warren, 74, who is an artist, said: “I woke up and to my horror I saw it out the window. I was in complete disbelief.

“It must have been the rain. That tree was old and rotten.

“I thank God that I wasn’t in the car at the time or getting out of it. Anyone could have been hurt by it.

“It was quite a nice car until this happened.”

She said the fallen branch had also blocked off part of the car park and because of the Bank Holiday she had to wait two days for her insurers to get her a rental car.

She said: “It’s a massive inconvenience. I had no car for two days and I can’t get in and out of the flat on that side.

“All my stands for an art exhibition on Saturday are in the car, as is a high chair for my grandchild who is coming to visit.”

Mrs Warren’s neighbour Dennis Hamley, 74, said: “It’s a complete mess. You would almost think a bomb had exploded. The branch staved in the roof and ripped part of the side panel off. It’s plainly a write-off.

“Ann has been completely immobilised.”

He said it was clear the tree had been dead for some time.

He said: “This should have been prevented. That branch should have been removed.”

Another branch also landed on a car belonging Mrs Warren’s neighbours Gyesang and Anne Jeon.

The tree belongs to Oxford University’s Keble College.

Bursar Roger Boden said: “All we know is that a branch fell and there has been some damage to two cars. The groundsman has been in touch with our insurers.”

He said tree surgeons carried out regular safety checks on their trees and the college would investigate the incident.

Mrs Warren said her property managers had been told the tree was dangerous after a branch fell off last year.

A spokesman for OM Property Management said the tree was not on its land.

He said the company used a qualified tree surgeon to inspect its trees every two years. He added: “We were informed this afternoon (May 5) that the land on which the tree is located belongs to Keble College and its tree team has removed the tree and cleared the car park.”