Heatwave blamed for sudden city centre branch fall

The collapse of part of a prominent city centre tree which sent shoppers rushing to safety has been blamed on the stress caused by a succession of heatwaves.

The city council said the Tree of Heaven in New George Street off Armada Way in Plymouth was last inspected in July but would now be removed as "we now believe the tree has sustained too much damage" after the incident at about 11:00 BST on Tuesday.

A spokesperson said: "Like most trees up and down the country, it will have been suffering from heat stress due to the ongoing high temperatures we are experiencing."

Milad Mettrey who runs the Fabulous Falafel food stand close to the tree said: "I heard a noise like a gun."

He said he moved his customers away and "people went very fast" to move to safety and said his gazebo, table and chairs were damaged in the incident.

A city council spokesperson said when the tree was inspected "no issues were identified other than the need to prune its crown" and added a large branch "split from the rest of the tree rather suddenly".

They said the council was trying to adapt its long-term planting plans to take the impact of climate change into consideration.

It said it was using storage tanks to capture rainwater for the trees and plants it has added to Armada Way this year.

"These changes take time to implement but are at the forefront of our thinking."

Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.