‘Health and safety gone mad!’ Charles Amos tears into new heatwave guidance as parkgoers told not to sit under trees

Charles Amos has hit out at new warnings that people should not shelter beneath trees during heatwaves, slamming the guidance as “health and safety gone mad”.

Speaking to GB News, the writer was reacting after authorities urged people to avoid sitting under trees in hot weather due to the increased risk of branches falling during prolonged periods of heat.

“This is just health and safety gone mad. It's not the role of public authorities to be telling people what's in their best interest.”

He argued the guidance was driven by attempts to avoid legal claims rather than protecting the public.

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“The reality is, the reason why these councils are saying you've got to stay underneath the trees is they don't want anybody to get struck by a branch which they have a liability for.

“Meanwhile, they don't have a liability for anybody getting sunburn.”

Mr Amos pointed to examples of councils facing costly payouts after falling branches injured members of the public, adding: “It's all to do with public liability.”

He also called for a wider overhaul of compensation rules, arguing individuals should bear responsibility for the risks they take outdoors.

“If I had it my way, I'd get rid of all this public liability stuff.

“If a tree falls on your head when you're out and about, that's on you,” he exclaimed.

“I don't see why the council and ultimately the taxpayers should have to pick up the tab.”

Mr Amos also said that the financial burden of managing trees was becoming increasingly expensive for local authorities.

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He revealed that his own parish council spends around £15,000 maintaining trees that often pose little practical risk.

“We're having to spend about £15,000 on dealing with trees,” he said.

“Very often it's trees that are sort of out in the middle of nowhere.

“But because somebody might walk through there and the branch might fall on their head, we've got to cut them.

“It's just health and safety gone mad,” the exasperated writer said again.

Mr Amos’s comments come as visitors to Normanby Hall Country Park near Scunthorpe have been told to avoid sitting, parking or having picnics underneath trees with large branches.

The order was issued after around five of the park’s “veteran” trees lost branches over the past few weeks.

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