A MUM-OF-FIVE cheated death after a tree came crashing down just feet in front of her as she drove down a country lane.

Christina Stavrou had to slam on her brakes to avoid the trunk, skidding to a halt just yards from it.

Now she is calling for a thorough check on the foliage along the B1000, in between WGC and Hertford, after her frightening experience.

“Just a few seconds earlier and I could have died,” the Welwyn woman told the WHT.

“My main concern is that this doesn’t happen again to anyone else. Something has to be done to check all the trees, I don’t feel safe driving down there any more.

“The tree just came right out of its roots and crashed in front of me. If I had been going any faster it would have crushed the car and I would have died.”

Christina, who was travelling home from Ware, was very shaken by the incident, at 12.20pm on Monday, which forced the police to attend to clear a backlog of traffic.

She added: “After everything I was just glad no one was hurt and that I managed not to crash into it.

“A team of men appeared from nowhere and started chopping it up. One of them said I could have died if it had landed on top of me and that’s when it really struck home. I’m lucky to be alive.”

A Herts Highways spokeswoman said the tree was on private property and when their workers attended to clear it up they found that private contractors had already cleared the mess.

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