MEMBERS OF a Cupar family had a miraculous escape from injury when a massive tree crashed down on their home in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Norma Fraser, her two children and family friend John Boyle were asleep in the house at Houston Court, and the two adults were woken by the tree smashing into the roof and gouging its way down an outside wall.

The garden was a scene of devastation, with a trampoline crushed under the debris, broken roof tiles scattered on the shed roof, guttering ripped from its mounting, and the TV aerial destroyed and torn off.

The two youngsters, Ashley (13) and Megan (3), slept through the incident.

In the morning, their friend and next-door neighbour, Toni Smith (17), said she was woken by the noise of the falling tree, but at the time did not realise what had happened.

“When I saw the damage in the morning I was just gobsmacked,” she said.

Mr Boyle called The Courier to ask for help as the family had difficulty getting someone to under-stand the seriousness of the situation, but after we contacted Hillcrest Housing Association, which owns the property, a maintenance officer visited.

The tree, which was around 50 feet tall, was snapped at its base, and many of the branches were obviously rotten.

It had fallen from the bank of the Lady Burn, which runs past the back of what used to be the family’s garden fence.

Mr Boyle said he called Hillcrest, who told him to phone the fire brigade.

Fife Fire and Rescue Service came out, but indicated that because no mains services had been damaged there was nothing the service could do.

Mr Boyle said he had also been trying to contact Fife Council, which carries out maintenance along the banks of the burn.

The council told The Courier the responsibility for assessing damage lies with the housing association, which will contact the council if the council has responsibility for removing any of the tree.

Mr Boyle said, “If the tree had come down when Megan was playing in the garden she would have been killed. It is obviously rotten, and I wonder how it was left to get in that state.

“We really needed some help and advice, and the whole experience was really frustrating.”