A QUIET evening at home was shattered in an instant for a family when a huge oak tree crashed into their garden – taking part of their roof with it.

Janina Orsi of Coles Green in Loughton received the fright of her life when the 80ft tree toppled over from the golf club next door at 8.45pm on a Wednesday evening.

The mum-of-three said: “The whole family was at home at the time. My two daughters were upstairs in my bedroom as the tree brushed past the window, it made a horrific sound.

“Just after it fell there was a crashing sound of the roof tiles, which we thought was glass.

“My husband ran downstairs and looked out the window and just shouted ‘The tree the tree!’

“If it was two or three feet to the right it would have fallen into the bedroom where my daughters were.

“We often have barbecues out there, but if we had been underneath it we wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

Despite their shocking experience she says she has yet to find anyone at neighbouring Loughton Golf Club prepared to remove the tree.

She added: “They don’t look after their trees properly.

“We have been here 13 years and they have never been touched or lopped while we have been here.

“A lot of the neighbours are writing to the council because they are worried about the other trees that belong to the golf club.

Now she has been told by a council officer that the tree that nearly killed her has to stay in her garden until she gets official approval to remove it, because it has a tree preservation order (TPO) on it.

Loughton Golf Club secretary Barry Francis insisted that the patch of land where the tree grew still belonged to the club’s previous owner.

He added: “I've been trying to help her. I put her husband in touch with the owner, and I imagine the owner of the land dealt with it.”

A council spokeswoman told the Guardian that TPOs do not apply to fallen trees and that they could be safely removed.