A mother has spoken of her relief that nobody was killed when a tree split in two and crashed down on her house and her husband’s car.

The bird cherry tree came down at about 7.10am yesterday just a few minutes after homeowner Fay White had left for work.

The 30-year-old had left her house, in St Martin’s Green, Trimley St Martin, with her daughter but her husband was still in the house.

Mrs White, a supervisor at nearby Mushroom Farm, said: “My husband was just shocked. He heard a crack and a bang. He looked outside and saw this massive tree and just thought ‘oh rubbish’.

“I laughed when I saw it, When I was waiting for the police, a lot of people who were walking their dogs saw it and they were just shocked. I am glad that no-one was hurt.”

A neighbour added: “My daughter was looking out of the window and saw the tree swaying and then the next minute the stump split in two and half fell on the house to the right and the other half on the parked car.

“Luckily nobody was walking by or in the car.”

It is thought that the tree had started to rot which is why it split in two and the high winds are believed to have contributed to the fall.

Council workers spent most of the day at the property clearing up. Despite the dramatic scene, the house and the car have not suffered too much damage.

She added: “Me and my daughter have to walk around that way but also, people walk their dogs over there. It was that quick that I don’t think anyone would have been able to move when it fell.”

Motorists on Tuesday night and yesterday morning faced extremely difficult driving conditions because of the strong gusts which hit the county’s roads.

Wind speeds reached 45mph in some areas, according to Weatherquest forecaster Steve Western, with the worst of the wind between 5-7am yesterday.