Families had a rude awakening this morning when a lamp post fell due to strong winds and smashed metres from homes.

Chris Cairney from Bramford had just taken two of his children to school and was returning to take a third to college this morning when he heard a huge thud outside his home.

"It's not something that happens every day," said Mr Cairney.

"It's been there years so it's come as a bit of a surprise."

Mr Cairney said the lamp post had looked fine when he had arrived home. Minutes later it was on the ground.

"There was a thud, I felt it in the house," said Mr Cairney.

The lamp post fell in a communal square close to a number of properties.

The impact of the fall smashed part of the concrete post itself as well as breaking the glass light on top.

Mr Cairney said it was fortunate that none of the nearby homes were damaged by the falling lamp post.

He said he was grateful the council had already come round to cut up the remains of the lamp post.

The post was not the only object to be felled by the wind in Suffolk on Thursday with a telegraph pole coming down near Halesworth and a large tree by the A12 at East Bergholt.