Fallen trees cause rail disruption and power cuts

Fallen trees have caused power cuts and severe disruption to rail services, with people advised to avoid travelling by train in parts of the East of England until Sunday.

Greater Anglia said services had been cancelled between Manningtree and Harwich Town, Manningtree and Ipswich, and Bishop's Stortford and Stansted Airport.

It added the strong winds on Friday night also meant only diesel trains would be able to run between Ipswich and Colchester, severely limiting services.

About 2,500 properties around Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk were left without electricity after a fault on a high-voltage line, but UK Power Networks said most had been reconnected overnight.

Network Rail response teams were on site after a tree fell on to the line near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex on Friday afternoon.

Greater Anglia said it was impacting Stansted Express services between London Liverpool Street and the airport, London Liverpool Street and Cambridge North, and Broxbourne and Bishop's Stortford, in Hertfordshire.

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

It advised passengers not to travel between Ipswich and Colchester, where an "extremely limited shuttle service" would be in operation.

The rail disruption affected Ipswich fans 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.

BBC Look East reporter Alex Dunlop said he received a call from his daughter at about 22:30 on Friday to say she was stuck at Colchester station on a train "going nowhere".

The only information they were given was they could be stuck "for hours".

He then drove from Norwich to Colchester to collect her and arrived at about 00:30 to find a "pretty chaotic" scene with angry passengers.

"There were so many taxis at Colchester station, clearly people desperate trying to figure out how to get home."

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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