IPSWICH: A driver whose car was written off when a tree came crashing down on top of it has called for answers on how the incident happened.

Simon Francis, 42, had parked his two-year-old silver Vauxhall Vectra in Westerfield Road, Ipswich, last Tuesday.

But he returned to find a huge branch had snapped off a horse chestnut tree in Christchurch Park and crushed his car roof and bonnet, damaging the vehicle’s supporting frame and leaving it a suspected write-off, although he is still waiting on confirmation from his insurers.

Mr Francis said: “When I got back to the car, I was shocked and in total disbelief.

“It seemed a bit surreal – I couldn’t even see the car underneath it.

“The weird thing was there were cars parked behind and in front of me but there was nothing on their cars at all.

“It all seemed like a practical joke – I was waiting for someone to jump out of a bush with a video camera.”

But Mr Francis, of Hubbards Close, Saxmundham, is now worried he will be left without a car to commute to his job as a financial advisor in Ipswich and Bungay as his insurance claim is still being processed.

He added: “Whatever I get for the car is going to be a pittance in comparison to what it is worth to me, because I have had it since it was new and I had no plans on changing it.

“I don’t know how much I will be out of pocket, but it will clearly be quite a lot. I’m going to lose my no claims bonus and have an excess of �100 to pay.

“And if they do say the car is a write-off, I can’t get to work or do my job without it.”

Mr Francis is now calling for an explanation of why the tree was left in that state.

“It wasn’t even windy that day – if it had been, I could have understood.

“But I can’t see how that tree could have been checked, and if they have, it shouldn’t have been there overhanging a footpath.

“Initially, I thought it was funny, but now the reality is sinking in and I’m not laughing any more.”

A spokesman for Ipswich Borough Council confirmed trees in the town’s parks are regularly checked for disease, but could not comment on this specific case as it is now subject to an insurance claim.

n Have you suffered a similar fate? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk