CONCERNED residents are calling for action after a large pine tree fell and crushed a parked car.

Fortunately there was nobody in the silver Renault Clio, which was parked in Knyveton Road, Bournemouth, when the tree fell shortly after 8pm on Tuesday.

But this is the second tree to have fallen in this area in the past two years and residents are worried other trees may be unsafe.

They are now calling on the council to start replacing some of the older trees that appear to be leaning and could potentially pose a problem.

Simon Goodwin, the proprietor of the Cransley Hotel in Knyveton Road, said: “It does concern me. Knyveton Road is obviously full of pine trees that have been here for 100 years or more and many are well past their sell-by date.

“I just think they need to be lopped. They need to be replaced with smaller trees. It’s just becoming a danger now.

“We’ve got several in our car park and we have to keep having the dead stuff removed from them. Because of the tree preservation orders we can’t do anything else with them and there’s always a risk they could fall and injure someone or damage a car.”

Jonathan Perry, his co-proprietor, said: “Another tree came down in the same spot two years ago. Just like this time, that occurred when there was no wind at all. It is worrying.

“Other trees are leaning quite a lot. Sooner or later, there’s going to be someone either killed or hurt.”

Andy McDonald, parks manager for Bournemouth council, said: “We inspect all of the borough’s trees on a regular basis. The pine trees in this area were inspected recently but there were no indications that this tree posed any risk of falling.

“We are of course investigating what happened by unfortunately some trees do fall without any pre-warning or explanation. We will continue our inspections and if we have any concerns we will take the most appropriate action.”

Dorset Police confirmed the Renault was registered to a woman from Weston-Super-Mare. A lamppost was also damaged by the tree.

There was also a fallen tree at Colehill, when an oak tree crushed the perimeter fence at Colehill First School and fell over the footpath and verge. This incident, which also occurred on Tuesday evening, was dealt with by Dorset County Council, which made the area safe and erected temporary fencing.