Hounslow Highways continues post-storm clean-up

Hounslow Highways crews have been working since Monday to clear up fallen trees and branches following Britain’s worst storm in decades.

A total of 217 trees and branches fell across the borough and 176 have been cleared so far with another 38 in the process of being cleared. The last three are expected to be cleared by Monday with crews working over the weekend in a final push to clear the remaining incidents.

Following the initial clear up, which is nearly complete, each tree will be visited by an arboricultural expert to ensure no further actions are required.

The reported incidents have been a mixture of fallen street trees and branches maintained by Hounslow Highways and some private trees that had fallen onto the network.

About 180 operational staff were involved in the clean-up and over 500  traffic management barriers, 1,000 cable ties and 500 sandbags were used to make sites safe.

Under Hounslow Highways’ Green Waste Strategy, the fallen trees have been made made into wood chippings and used as biofuel.

Hounslow Highways service director Rob Gillespie said: “When the severe weather warning came through alerting us to high winds, we were aware that some trees might come down. Making the network safe has been our number one priority and we are focusing our efforts on clearing roads and pavements of debris before fully returning to our normal, everyday service.

“We thank residents for reporting fallen trees to us and for their patience as we prioritise trees for removal.”