A Drain on Resources

I have been having a few problems with slow drainage from the house, bath slow to drain, shower, kitchen sink blocking up every five mins. I went outside and found a load of flies on a trace of water by a manhole cover - uh-oh! It's been something like 18-20 years since we last had any drain trouble and back then the council ran a service at a modest charge compared to the likes of Dyno-Rod. I searched the council website only to find that, like so many services, they no longer do drains. The main sewers and drains in the roads are all the responsibility of Wessex Water. Personal drains and sewerage are the householders responsibility and you have to employ a drain clearing company to do the job. So I searched on Checkatrade for someone with high ratings and good feedback from customers. Found a local company and called them out. The man came when he said he would and raised the inspection covers. EWWWWW! Full to the brim with s.... sludge.
He checked the direction of flow of the pipes and had a good poke around with rods. There was some movement but no great whoosh of a blockage being shifted. He 'retrieved' a few bits that were snagged up down the pipe but it was still slow moving. He got out the power jet hose and got to work. It wasn't long before a lot of gurgling ensued and it all started moving. Yayy!. It looked like it had been blocked for quite some time and there was a lot of... erm.. solid waste build up so he spent a while hosing out the pipes and washing away the nasty stuff. He then flushed back up the pipes under the house to make sure all were clear and free of gunk. The kitchen outlet was a bit manky with fatty/greasy deposits but he got it all clean. 
It did cost a bit but I watched him the whole time and he worked like mad the whole time, in that heat too! He finally put a camera down the drain and found a tree root had penetrated a joint in the sewer. He cleaned away the finer bits off it as best he could with his rods but the main root was too big and needs dealing with properly, then the pipe lined to seal the joint again and stop the pipe collapsing. The tree root is just about bang on where the garden fence is and I have a big buddleia bush/tree there - the probable culprit. Just digging out the tree would not solve the long term problem because the sewer joint has been opened and is no longer sealed. Other roots might get in too.
He gave me a quote for doing the job which is well over £1000 excluding VAT! ! Blimming heck!
I will be getting other quotes!
In the mean time I now have clear pipes and all is flowing well. I will be getting my sons to have a look every few months to make sure it's not backing up again.