Lucky escape as falling tree blocks road in Fakenham
Holt Road in Fakenham was blocked by a fallen tree. Picture: Chris Bishop - Credit: Archant
A man had a lucky escape when a falling tree blocked a road in Fakenham today.
Edward Purchase, 50, was helping to cut down the tree in a garden on Holt Road when it unexpectedly toppled into the road.
Mr Purchase, who was up a ladder, ended up underneath but the weight of the tree did not land on him.
He was taken to hospital as a precaution, after suffering what were described as minor injuries.
Emergency services were called to the scene, near the junction with Lancaster Avenue, at around 12.20pm.
Police closed the road off in both directions, while firefighters helped free Mr Purchase from the branches.
Watch manager Gary Thorpe said: 'The gentleman was lying in the road, so we worked with the ambulance to get him extricated. He just had the tree over him.
Most Read
- 1 Norfolk zoo keeper abandoned as a baby reunited with mother in ITV show
- 2 M&S to close 32 stores as part of move away from town centres
- 3 WATCH: 'Unplayable' delivery from Suffolk bowler goes viral
- 4 Queen's Platinum Jubilee flypast rehearses over Norfolk
- 5 Café completely sells out on first week of launching Sunday roasts
- 6 Norwich man in court over £3.5m whiskey theft
- 7 'Mishap' at historic hotel as van crashes into entrance wall
- 8 9 of the best campsites on the Norfolk coast
- 9 Lane of A47 remains shut after serious crash yesterday afternoon
- 10 Woman freed from vehicle after car overturns near to shops
'My understanding of his injuries is that appear to be small.'
Mr Purchase's stepmother Christine Purchase, who lives in the property, said: 'The trees are dangerous, they've got to come down, so my step-son said he'd come over and do it.
'I left them to it, the next thing I knew they said can I have a blanket, Edward's fallen in the road.
'I think it's just collapsed. It's smashed through the fence.'
Mrs Purchase said her step-son had been taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn as a precaution. Holt Road was blocked for almost an hour in both directions, as Mr Purchase's workmates chopped up the tree and removed it.
