Rock boulder flattens garden shed

The shed stopped the boulder from crashing into the kitchen. In pictures

A five tonne boulder came away from a rock face and fell 60ft (18m) into a garden in Somerset, flattening a shed.

The boulder also shifted an oil tank - containing 1,000 litres of oil - up against the back of the house in North Moor Road, Dulverton.

Devon and Somerset fire crews said the area was checked and the house itself escaped damage.

Gwyneth Jarman, who lives in the house, was uninjured but was said to be "extremely shaken-up".

A fire service spokeswoman said an investigation was being carried out, but it was not yet known why the boulder came away.

Mrs Jarman said it could have been far worse.

"I heard the rumbling, the house shook, I woke up and didn't realise what had happened," she said.

"[The boulder] would have been in the kitchen if the shed hadn't been there."