Man's narrow escape as tree falls on bowling green

A man was "very lucky" when two sections of a tree "landed either side of him", when they fell at a bowling green, the club said.

One person was taken to hospital and two others were treated at the scene in Victoria Park, Leamington Spa, on Sunday. The venue had been hosting a para pairs qualifying competition ahead of the National Bowls Finals there in August.

People had just moved off a green and there was now something "rather like a crater" there, David Wigman, from Royal Leamington Spa Bowls Club, said.

Bowls England said the safety of its "events is priority" and it was liaising with Warwick District Council on "the incident and next steps".

The club chairperson, who said his thoughts were with those hurt, said the council owned the park and he thought experts would take the rest of the tree down.

The BBC has contacted the local authority.

In a statement, West Midlands Ambulance Service said its crews treated a woman for injuries not believed to be serious before taking her to University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire.

Two others were assessed and discharged at the scene.

Wigman said a game had just finished on A Green, a show green normally used by Bowls England for its national championships.

"They [had] just moved off the green and there were some people sitting around the side, and this tree, which [has] been there for many, many years, decided it had had enough of life."

He added he guessed the tree would be down "within the next day or so", due to safety.

It fell in two sections, a higher and lower one, he said, adding one person "in particular was very lucky, because the two sections landed either side of him".

"So he was a very lucky man. But it could have been a lot worse obviously, if people had still been playing."

Once the tree was dealt with, the chairman said contractors would decide how best to repair the green.

"If you can imagine a crater with a bomb falling, it's that sort of thing where the tree actually came down," he said.

Victoria Park is set to host the 2027 World Bowls Championship.

The chair said: "The groundsman, who also turned out yesterday, looked at it and decided that he didn't think it would take too long to bring the green back to life."

Bowls England said "a section of tree" landed "on and around A Green" and it was in communication with those affected.

It added it would like to thank emergency services and "all involved for their support in managing the difficult situation".

The governing body said the para pairs competition was abandoned in the later stages and it would work on plans for qualification in due course.

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