A BUSKER had a lucky escape when a huge tree came “shattering” down in Carlisle city centre.

Barney Bridges only just managed to get out of the way of the falling trunk in English Street yesterday.

The 24-year-old was halfway through Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis when he heard a crack.

“I luckily had a look to see what it was and noticed the tree was about to clobber me,” he said. "My case got a bit damaged but all my gear is fine thankfully, although it did all get clobbered.

"I would have been right in the middle of the wreckage but noticed and ran out of the way, maybe two seconds before - it’s hard to tell."

Shoppers were stopped in their tracks as they witnessed what happened. Aimee Gilchrist, 19, of Carlisle, was with her son, niece and grandmother and was walking towards House of Fraser.

She said there were people sat outside Cafe Nero and others walking by as the tree came down.

“We had just come out of Marks and Spencer and then heard a massive bang and a shattering sound of the branches hitting the ground. We saw the busker running away from it and then just the commotion of people gathering around the area," she said.

"It was honestly a miracle that no one did get hurt.

"There was no warning at all just a massive bang and then the ground all pulled up.

"It was windy but not to that extent of it blowing a tree like that down."

Cumbria County Council responded to the incident at about 1pm. It is working with tree experts to investigate how and why a "seemingly healthy tree" came down as well as inspecting all others in the city centre.

“Incidents of well-maintained trees falling are extremely rare, and thankfully there have been no injuries," said a spokesman.