The owner of a Porsche 911 sports car that was hit by a tree during a storm has expressed their 'devastation' after this was the second time in just a few years it had been hit.

Zenya Dunne said that this time the vehicle is a write-off after a three-tonne branch came crashing down as Storm Otto swept through Harrogate, early on Friday morning.

She said it is her partner’s car and the “pride of his life”.

Ms Dunne said it was fortunate the tree came down onto the parked car during the night when few people were around and, on Friday morning, residents took to social media to warn people to stay away due to the danger posed by the precarious branches.

She told the PA news agency: “The tree is quite a size and it’s smashed down onto the roof.

Darlington and Stockton Times: The three-tonne branch that crushed the carThe three-tonne branch that crushed the car (Image: PA MEDIA)

“This time, the car is completely and utterly crushed.

“I’ve been told by six or seven gentlemen already that it’s a write-off.”

Ms Dunne said she has been worried about the tree for some time and the car was damaged a couple of years ago when a branch came off.

She said: “It’s a really, really big tree. It’s been unsafe for quite some time and we’ve reported it numerous times.”

And she said: “It came straight through our garden and has nearly smashed through the front window.

“It was lucky it was through the night. It could have been much worse if it had been through the day time.”

One resident concerned about the danger posed by the tree said on Twitter: “A large tree has fallen across Granby Road which has crushed a car.

“The public are wandering under the three-ton semi-attached limb putting themselves in mortal danger.”