A shocked resident has told of the moment a 40ft tree crashed into his house as high winds battered the region.

The 40ft high lime tree came down in Dringhouses, York, at around 9pm on Monday as the aftermath of Storm Ophelia caused gusting winds.

David Baynam, 70, of Hunters Way, Dringhouses, was at home with his wife watching TV when the tree outside their semi-detached house was brought down.

The impact damaged the roof, guttering and the top of the bay windows on both Mr Baynam's house and on the adjoining property, which also sustained two broken windows.

It also damaged a small wall in front of the two houses.

Mr Baynam expects the damage to cost thousands of pounds to repair.

He said: “I was watching TV and I heard this crash.

“I just wondered what it was. There was a bit of a tremor. My wife says it is the tree.

“I came out and saw the damage. It was a bit shocking.

“I went to see how my neighbour was. She called the fire service. They couldn’t do anything last night [Monday].”

He added: “The council also sent somebody last night. He said ‘I can’t do anything tonight’. There was no immediate danger. They came round this morning [Tuesday] and tidied it up. They are going to cut it up into sections.”

Mr Baynam believes it was a “sudden gust” that brought the tree down.

He said he has lived at the house for 10 years and during that time large branches have fallen off the tree.

“It has been showing signs of decay for several years,” he said. “It seems to be totally rotten from inside. I’m not sure if the council are going to pay for the damage.”

Russell Stone, head of operations at City of York council, said: "Our emergency staff visited the property over night along with the fire brigade and the arboricultural staff were on site this morning first thing as well.

"The tree was cut up and cleared and the building repairs staff have boarded up the damaged window and checked the roof making sure everything is safe and secure.”

"We recommend the property owners seek advice from their insurance company as to the process to be followed to ensure the repairs are undertaken as soon as possible.

"If they would prefer not to approach their own insurance company then we will provide the relevant information to enable them to pursue a claim through the council’s liability insurance.”

He added that the tree was a lime tree and it had been inspected recently.

The strong gusts overnight from Monday to Tuesday damaged other buildings in North Yorkshire.

Fire crews were sent to Acklam in Ryedale to put out a large fire at agricultural buildings, which was caused by an accidental spread from a bonfire due to the high winds.

Crews were also called to Hawthorn Avenue in Malton where a PVC door curtain had been blown into a security light and set on fire.

Meanwhile, a crew visited Commercial Street in Malton and removed a sign that was hanging dangerously over a footpath due to the high winds.