A DISABLED man says he is trapped in a bureaucratic wrangle which could cost him thousands of pounds.
Philip Turner, 63, is worried that he cannot get complete insurance cover for trees on his property which dangerously overhang Edgerton Road, Edgerton.
But because of a tree preservation order the branches can't be cut back.
Mr Turner, of Edgerton Green, said: "I'm stuck in the middle. It's only a matter of time before something comes down and hits something. If one hits a bus or a car and there's a pile-up, then I fear I am liable.
"I can't cut them down - but I'm not insured. "It takes common sense - but you don't get that with the council."
Mr Turner, who has a number of health problems, including a heart condition, said branches from the trees had come down before.
He said that part of an elm had already collapsed and he was worried that other branches from the trees, which include horse chestnuts, limes and sycamores, could drop on to the busy road.
He told his insurers he had asked Kirklees Council for permission to trim the branches and the company told him he would be liable for any damage caused by falling branches or trees.
The former computer engineer said: "I'm piggy in the middle and the stress is no good for someone in my condition.
"I just want it sorted out."
A Kirklees Council spokes- man said: "Mr Turner made his request in 1991, when the trees and branches were perfectly healthy - as they still are.
"However, we have written to his insurance company to try to help him."
A spokesman for the Zurich insurance company said the home insurance policy
provides protection for Mr Turner's buildings for loss or damage against certain events.
He added: "These include sudden and unexpected loss or damage from falling trees or branches.
"It also provides cover for Mr Turner's legal liability, as the homeowner, to compensate others following an accident.
"It applies irrespective of whether a Tree Preservation Order is in force for the tree.
"What would need establishing is whether the policyholder had any legal liability. This would not necessarily be the case if, say, a branch simply broke from a healthy tree for no apparent reason."
He said the company would talk to Mr Turner.
