A MINEHEAD shop was seriously damaged when a large tree on the eastern side of The Avenue was blown over by strong winds in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The Framing Factory and Gallery took the full force of the falling tree, smashing an awning and damaging the shop-front. The owner was away at the time.

Carol Morris, of neighbouring Home Start, the family support organisation, said the awning had taken much of the force of the falling tree and deflected it away from Home Start and the Proper Job DIY store on the other side.

“It was very lucky that no-one was walking nearby at the time and that the tree didn’t fall on any residential property,” she said.

A spokesman for Proper Job said they had escaped damage because the tree had been deflected on to the next property: “It just snapped off at the bottom – the wind must have been amazingly strong.”

A fire and rescue team from Minehead cordoned off the area and made the scene safe before leaving it in the hands of the police. The tree was cut up and removed by midday on Tuesday.

Several large ornamental lights strung in the tree by Minehead Chamber of Commerce as part of a tourist attraction were damaged in the incident.

Photo: Paul Scullion