HOME owners are worried for their safety and believe a tree described as a "time bomb" could come crashing down on top of them at any moment.
The tree is in the garden of a house in Pasture Road, Stapleford, and its poor state was only revealed after a similar tree, that shares the same root network, fell last month.
The already fallen poplar tree came crashing down at roughly 3.30pm on Friday, May 24, and still rests on sheds and fences more than a month later.
Neighbours believe that not enough is being done to protect their property from the remaining tree.
Civil servant Stephen Smith of Pasture Road, Stapleford, said: "A 30-metre-high tree fell across three properties and destroyed a large shed as well as a trampoline.
"I contacted the owner of the tree and they won't move it.
"There is a second tree that is still standing but it is also rotten and they won't remove that either.
"With it still standing I think it is putting people in danger because it could fall at any time, on anyone."
Martin Page, who has been a tree surgeon for 35 years, looked at the remaining tree at Mr Smith's request.
He said: "It is liable to fall because part of the tree from the same network has fallen.
"It's not immediately dangerous – but it's got to be felled whatever happens and that should be done as soon as possible."
Neighbour Holly Relton, 38, said: "At the time when the first one fell down it could have been when my son, Joseph Relton, 11, was playing outside.
"The fallen tree obliterated his trampoline and the only reason he was not on it was because it was raining.
"The remaining tree is dangerous and you can see it sway in the wind.
"The tree is definitely a time bomb and if it was to fall towards our house it would come through our conservatory."
She went on: "When the wind gets up I do have sleepless nights worrying about it coming down.
"We simply do not go out in the garden and won't until something is sorted."
It is not the first time the owner of the tree has been at the centre of a controversy.
Dr Balvinder Singh Mehat owns a number of properties throughout the county.
He was ordered to pay more than £20,000 in fines and costs in 2009 after he was found not to have a proper licence for a house he rented to students in Derby Grove, Lenton, which was also found to present a significant fire safety risk.
When contacted by the Post and asked about the trees, he said: "We have contacted our insurance company and they are delaying making a decision on who should pay to have the trees removed."
