I guess a simple answer would be a tree surgeon, though recent case law (which I can't remember the details of) seems to imply that for a civil defence a common-sense approach will do, i.e. does the tree show any obvious signs of damage, illness or decay? But I think you might need to take a more robust approach for possible criminal breaches. We have several thousand trees throughout our various estates, and the first thing we do is identify the ones that pose a reasonable risk to the public; i.e. they have to big wnough to hurt if they fall on you, and they have to be in an area where we invite workers or the public or where the public has a right of way, or where they border and adjacent property. Having dones this we get a tree-surgeon in to do a survey, and then we carry out any recommended remedial works. Re-inpscetion is done at intervals as recommended by the initial inspection. Costs for the surveys are in the hundreds per property, depending on the size of teh grounds. You've already said it's a car park, so people are invited to use it; how big are your trees? John

I know an expert in trees! Honestly, he is a consultant to several councils etc :) If you PM me I am happy to pass on your contact details to him and ask him to give you a call.

Hi To add to the previous posts, the following links may be of interest. http://heartwoods.co.uk/...ord-Lockhart-Garratt.pdf and “Three recent court cases have underlined the need for landowners to inspect their trees. The cases provide differing guidance as to the type of inspection to be undertaken, the level of competence required of the tree inspector and the frequency of inspections. It appears there is no such thing as one size fits all and every case is judged on its own merits.” http://www.hellistreecon...n_where_why_and_how.html Cheers