Tree hits car carrying baby in Watchet

16th November 2009
By Lloyd Vaughan »

A TREE smashed into a car carrying a baby in Watchet at the weekend as the worst storms of the year battered West Somerset.

The baby was travelling with two women near Warren Bay Holiday Park on Friday evening when their Landrover Discovery was hit and trapped by the tree - one of several uprooted along the road.

Members of Watchet Coastguard stumbled across the stricken vehicle as they returned from rescuing a fisherman with a suspected broken ankle near Minehead.

Peter Pring, of the holiday park, helped the crew release the vehicle with a chainsaw.

The women and baby were unharmed but shaken by the ordeal, according to Watchet Coastguard Simon Bale.

He added: “We just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

“We were expecting a further call that evening with regards to the weather, but were not prepared for it to be on the road on our way back to the station."

Moments before, Simon and his colleagues helped Minehead Coastguard rescue a 40-year-old fisherman who was swept of his feet and injured about half a mile from Minehead Golf Club.

Minehead Coastguard administered first aid before the Watchet team battled the elements to get him to a waiting ambulance.

Simon Bale, of Watchet Coastguard, said: “Luckily for this man, he had the correct waterproof clothing on and was able to keep warm while his friend gathered up all their equipment and they awaited the coastguard's arrival having summonsed help on their mobile phone.”

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