Fallen trees cause 'significant damage' to railway

Fallen trees have caused severe disruption to rail services in the East of England, with people advised to avoid travelling by train on three routes until Sunday.

Greater Anglia said "significant damage" to overhead line equipment had cancelled services between Colchester and Ipswich, Bishop's Stortford and Stansted Airport, and Manningtree to Harwich Town.

A spokesperson said: "Network Rail response teams are on site, with work to repair the damage expected to take all day."

Friday night's high winds also cut power to about 2,500 properties around Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk when a high-voltage line was damaged, but UK Power Networks said most had been reconnected overnight.

Greater Anglia apologised for the inconvenience and advised passengers to "check before they travel for the rest of the weekend".

The company said disruption was affecting Stansted Express services between London Liverpool Street and the airport, London Liverpool Street and Cambridge North, and Broxbourne and Bishop's Stortford, in Hertfordshire.

It added trains on the main line between Norwich and London would only run between Norwich and Ipswich.

Ipswich fans were affected after their 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest at Portman Road on Friday night.

One supporter posting on X said the station doors were locked and people were left "to fend for ourselves".

"Not one member of staff appeared to try and help people with alternative routes," he said. Greater Anglia has been approached for comment.

Elliot Buck, 22, a student from Brundall in Norfolk, was trying to get a train from Colchester on Friday night back to Norwich, with his partner.

He said the train was initially delayed by about half an hour and was then eventually stuck for two and a half hours.

"It was getting progressively more and more full, we all sat on the floor, we were getting updates every hour from the conductor saying, 'Sorry folks, we'll be in for a long night, we don't have any updates.'"

He said there were taxis everywhere "queuing up all the way back to the exit of Colchester train station car park", with people being told it would cost about £300 for a trip to Norwich.

They called his partner's father, who made a three-hour round trip to bring them home.

He thinks, if he had not got a lift back, he would have been stuck there for most of the night.

A man had to be freed from his car after a large tree fell on it in Burnt Mills Road, Pitsea, near Basildon, Essex.

Firefighters were called at about 16:47 BST on Friday and he was left in the care of the ambulance service.

It was not the only car struck by a tree. Pictures shared on Facebook showed another vehicle beneath a large fallen tree in Hobleythick Lane in Westcliff-on-Sea.

Essex Police said it happened at about 16:00 and there were no reports of injuries.

"The road was closed while we worked with partners and other agencies to clear the area," it confirmed.

Essex crews also spent about 90 minutes in The Causeway between Writtle and Edney Common, near Chelmsford, to clear a tree after being called at 16:49 BST, on Friday.

A large branch across Panfield Lane in Braintree was removed by 18:05 and another tree came down on power lines in Pound Lane in Ugley, near Stansted Airport, shortly after 17:30 and left at 18:19.

In Covington, Cambridgeshire, villagers helped move a fallen tree off Keyston Road.

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