Commuter angered by lack of tree care

He spoke out after an unsuccessful year-long battle to try to claim back his £200 insurance excess to fix the damage from company National Car Parks (NCP) which operates the lower car park in Little Chalfont.
Mr Gawler, an IT project manager who has travelled in to London for the last 22 years had left his silver Ford Focus parked at the site on October 1 last year but returned to find a fist-sized dent in the roof and a detached branch lying next to it. The damage was valued at £600.
The married father-of-two grown up children from West Avenue, Penn, said: "I walked the car park from end to end and have seen what to me, as a layman, is clear evidence of a lack of tree care. If a car had been parked under the tree when it had fallen it would be severely dented or someone could have been hurt. There are dead branches where they have fallen off the trees over the last few years and dropped into the undergrowth bordering the car park. If this was in the middle of nowhere this wouldn't matter but they are in a public place.
"For me it's a matter of principle. If I take it to the Small Claims Court and fail at least I would have had my day in court."
Mr Gawler, who collated photographic and video evidence to support his claim, added that he would be interested to hear from any other drivers who have suffered the same problem at the station.
A NCP spokesman said: "We can certainly sympathise with the driver whose car was damaged by a windblown branch falling from a tree at the Chalfont & Latimer station car park last year, and we are thankful that no-one was hurt.
"We reviewed the claim very carefully at the time and communicated to the claimant that liability could not be accepted for this claim.
"That said we have taken action to cut branches in that car park back to the fence line. NCP's aim is to provide clean, safe and working car parks, and the position on liability is contained within the terms and conditions, copies of which are displayed in each car park and are available on request."
Has your car been damaged by a fallen tree or branches at the car park? Leave a comment below.