A pensioner who suffered a brain injury after being hit by a falling tree claims she can no longer speak or live as she used to.

Caroline Leafe, 70, was walking with her husband Kenneth and their dog in Ashdown Forest on January 25 last year when the pair were struck by a silver birch tree during felling.

The Conservators of Ashdown Forest (CAD) have been fined £8,000 and ordered to pay £3,589.90 in court costs after pleading guilty to breaching section 3(1) of the Health, Safety and Health at Work Act.

“I’m glad to be alive because it was a tremendously big tree,” said Mrs. Leafe.

The nature conservation authority announced that the 12 m high tree had to be felled because it was rotting.

There were no warning signs or barriers, just the calls of a ranger who came too late to prevent the couple from being hit.

“It was a clear and frosty day, full of the joys of late winter,” said Mr Leafe. “I heard this panicked scream that caught my attention, and then the tree fell.”

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that CAF Forest had failed to identify the risk to the public and put precautionary measures in place, and said there were no clear guidelines on how to fell trees safely.

The CAF said it had accepted the HSE’s recommendations and sent the couple a letter of apology.

CAF also paid victim compensation of £2,000.

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