THE clear-up continued in Suffolk yesterday following a freak tornado which swept through part of the county on Monday afternoon.

Lizzie Parry

THE clear-up continued in Suffolk yesterday following a freak tornado which swept through part of the county on Monday afternoon.

Trees were uprooted, tiles broken, windows smashed and power lines damaged in the Leiston area during the dramatic incident.

High winds and a narrow band of torrential rain affected the region on Monday and resulted in a mini tornado tearing through Leiston, Knodishall and Pettistree, near Wickham Market at about 2.30pm.

At Leiston High School a window was blown out of a skylight and a tree fell onto an electricity cable.

Bryan Duncan, site supervisor at the school, was in charge of taking care of the aftermath and praised the swift work of the glaziers to repair the window.

He said: “The glaziers came last night to replace the window, I cleared up all of the glass that smashed and the electricity company came to repair the cable.

“It didn't take too long in real terms; we had to get it done quickly because of the children being back at school today.”

In Knodishall, Ray and Sandy Haines, who only moved into their bungalow two weeks ago, now face the prospect of waiting a fortnight before a normal electricity supply can be restored.

Mr Haines said despite the daunting prospect of clearing up the damage caused to the property, he and his wife were remaining upbeat.

“We will have to wait a week before the insurance assessor can come, and we don't know how long it will be before the chimney is properly repaired, it could be at least a fortnight.

“It is all up in the air at the moment, we have only been here for two weeks, we were so keen to move in and then this happened.

“You have to keep a smile on your face though, at least we are still alive to tell the tale, it could have been much worse.”

In Pettistree, Maureen Stollery, whose garden was turned upside down as the tornado passed through parts of the village, discovered more damage yesterday morning.

She said: “Friends and family have been over and can't quite believe what happened. We have been walking around the garden and finding more damage, our brick BBQ is broken.

“We can't start clearing up at the moment. We have to wait for our insurance company to send an assessor. It is very frustrating not being able to get on and clear it up.”

Another couple in Leiston also found a huge tree uprooted in their garden, ripped from its roots by the strong winds, knocking the phone line to their house down.

Meanwhile, heavy rain on Monday left some Suffolk roads underwater yesterday. Water flooded fields and roads in Easton, near Woodbridge, causing problems for traffic.