A BASINGSTOKE family had a lucky escape when a 70ft conifer tree fell down in their garden, smashing into their hot tub and gym.

The Warner family were asleep at their home in Wayside Road, Winklebury, when the huge tree uprooted in the middle of the night.

But despite crashing into their hot tub, in an extension attached to their garage, the family did not hear the commotion.

Alison Warner, 43, a self-employed accountant, said: “We have four dogs and it was just getting light and I let them out. I thought ‘why has the barbecue tipped over?’ I won’t tell you what I said next!

“I called my husband and said ‘the tree has gone down’. My heart was pounding. It was a real shock, when you think what could have happened if it had gone the other way.”

Had the tree fallen at a different angle, it could have crashed into the family’s home, hitting a bedroom which overlooks the garden, where Mrs Warner’s eight-year-old twin daughters, Shamara and Siobhan, sleep.

The tree fell during the storms on Monday, December 23, and Mrs Warner said she had worried about it that night.

She added: “I saw it swaying and I couldn’t sleep – I couldn’t get it out of my head. I have never thought about that tree before. It was freaky.”

Thankfully, the family’s extension is covered on their insurance, and they are now waiting for it to be repaired and the tree removed.