Canal boat owner Bernard Richardson remains upbeat despite the damage.

A Shropshire couple today revealed how they had had a lucky escape after a tree toppled over and crashed onto their narrowboat home moored on the Llangollen canal.

Bernard and Barbara Richardson, who left Church Stretton for a life on the canals seven years ago, weren’t on board the boat when the drama unfolded or they said they could have been seriously injured.

They were in Shrewsbury on Friday when they were contacted by British Waterways telling them a huge tree had damaged their narrowboat – named No Worries.

But Mr Richardson said they had not been prepared for the sight they were confronted with when they returned to their home, moored near St Martins.

“It has been well and truly buckled, although thankfully it is not taking in water,” he said. “But the cooker and the wall behind it is smashed and everything is in a real mess inside.”

Mr Richardson said his wife had been heartbroken by what she saw.

“Then she said that really, we are lucky to be unhurt and to have somewhere to go, unlike the people of Haiti.”

He added: “It has not been a good winter for us. We had to cancel visiting our daughters in Australia because my father-in-law was ill, our car was written off in the bad weather and then sadly my father-in-law died.

“We were in Shrewsbury making final arrangements for the funeral when the tree fell.”

Now the couple are hoping to sort out insurance details for the repairs to their home, before they make their rearranged trip to Australia at the end of the week.

But they say the incident has not put them off their way of life.

Mr Richardson said: “I retired as a butcher in Church Stretton seven years ago and we have been living on the boat every since, cruising on the Llangollen and Shropshire Union canal. It is a wonderful way of life.”

British Waterways said it would reopen the towpath at Preeshenlle where the tree fell, as soon as contractors could clear it.

By Sue Austin