A FAMILY whose garden was destroyed by a 15-ton beech tree is to be given compensation from Southampton City Council.

Joanne Clist and her four children narrowly escaped with their lives when the huge trunk of the tree split in two and smashed into their back garden, in Midanbury Lane, Midanbury.

The rest of 150-year-old beech, protected by a tree preservation order, has now been condemned by tree experts and will have to be cut down.

The cost of the operation is estimated to reach nearly £2,000.

The City Council is now due to offer £650 towards it - and the Clists' insurers have paid out a further £700 to clear the garden.

Joanne said: "We will have to pay some money ourselves to get the tree down but the council have been as good as they can be. They've even footed the bill to clear an oak tree, which was pushed down in my neighbour's garden.

"But the children and my husband and I are devastated the tree has to come down. We loved it. We have only been living here just over a year."

The cause of the tree's crash to earth earlier this month is believed to be summer branch drop, where apparently healthy mature trees shed limbs after heavy rain, say experts.

Bryony Clist, seven, and her sister Erica, five, were playing with a friend on swings under the tree when they heard it begin to crack.

They fetched their mum to listen to the noise - and then all four had to run for their lives as the trunk fell.

The city council is due to approve cash for the Clists from an emergency fund next week.

A council spokesman said: "It must always be a matter of regret when a mature landmark tree has to be felled because of its dangerous condition."

He said it was an exceptional case for the council to offer assistance in dealing with a tree not in its ownership.

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