A man says it is lucky no one was seriously hurt after a tree next to his house fell in high winds.

Vinod Patel, of Imperial Drive, North Harrow, says he contacted Harrow Borough Council regularly about the cherry tree which came down in Sunday night’s storm, damaging part of his house.

Last year the Harrow Times reported on the problem tree outside the 51-year-old’s home, and he says his warnings were ignored by the council.

Mr Patel said: “Someone could have been seriously hurt or killed and it’s lucky it came down a time we expected it to.

“We knew it was going to come down sooner or later and I informed the council about it a long time ago.

“We heard a lot of noise in the night and heard cracking and crashing. It wasn’t until the morning that we knew what had happened."

In 2012, Mr Patel told the Harrow Times his insurance company had confirmed the tree had bleeding canker and warned it was an "accident waiting to happen".

He said he had been battling to get a response out of the council for more than ten years, but the council denied accusations it had ignored the tree, claiming Mr Patel had not lodged a complaint.

Now Mr Patel is angry that his warnings came true.

He added: "I am very angry at the council and the way this has been handled. I feel I have been ignored for the past two years.

“I don’t know the scale of the damage at this point but I know a wall has been cracked.”

More than 100 trees across the borough fell as a result of the St Jude’s storm yesterday, causing widespread disruption.

A spokeswoman for the council said: “We will look into the circumstances surrounding Mr Patel’s case.

“At the moment we are dealing with over 250 reports of fallen trees and our tree services and street cleaning team have been working flat out since 6am Monday with a view to keeping the borough moving.

“Our first priority was to make sure the main roads were cleared, we are now working to clear the side roads. We will be in touch with Mr Patel about this issue he has raised.”