A contractor who assumes contractual responsibility for tree maintenance and removal of dangerous branches in a public park owes a direct duty of care to park users, independent of the principal's own duty. The obligation to remove 'dangerous' branches, where the contract requires work to be done in accordance with best arboricultural practice, extends to branches detectable upon reasonable inspection and is not limited to those visible from ground level. Expert evidence on the construction of a maintenance contract may be admitted but carries little weight where it addresses matters of contractual interpretation outside the experts' field of expertise.
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