Tree to be removed from Sydney's Hyde Park after falling branch injures two

A mother and her pregnant daughter have been taken to hospital after a Hyde Park tree came crashing down on their car on a busy city street.

The pair were stopped at traffic lights in College Street, opposite the Australian Museum, when the Hills Fig split in two and fell onto the road at 10.30am.

It smashed one of their windows and damaged another car.

The women were taken to St Vincent's Hospital but are understood to have sustained only minor injuries.

Witness Michelle O'Reilly was in a car with her 22-month-old son, Noam, and narrowly avoided injury.

"We were just parked at the lights and we heard a loud crack, then down came a branch," she said.

Her car was slightly dented and remained covered in foliage as emergency crews with chainsaws cleared the road and police directed traffic through the busy William Street intersection.

The City of Sydney said the 20-year-old tree would be chopped down.

A spokesperson defended the council's handling of the park's ageing trees, saying more than 40 had been removed in the past decade.

"City staff constantly monitor the health of trees in the park. When a tree is assessed as posing a risk, we take action."

Some trees are more than 80 years old and can be weakened by diseases, poor soil quality, and drainage.

The council began erecting signs in December warning people to avoid the park during or soon after heavy rain and strong winds because of the risk posed by falling branches.

Several reports of falling trees have surfaced in recent years, including a fig which narrowly missed two mothers and their children in July 2013 after weeks of heavy rain.