High winds knocked down trees and damaged buildings on the coast today.

Winds of up to 60mph were recorded in Tendring, although not as much damage was caused as was expected.

There were no severe weather warnings issued for East of England by the Met Office, but dozens of trees were blown down across the district and buildings in Holland-on-Sea and Thorpe were damaged.

A corrugated sheet of metal was blown from a barn on to power lines in Golden Lane in Thorpe and part of the roof of a block of flats in King's Parade, Holland-on-Sea, was blown on to nearby garages.

Nigel Brown, Tendring Council's communications manager, said the council's horticultural services team was ready and on standby to deal with calls for help from early on.

"The council had five teams out across the district during the morning dealing with fallen and dangerous trees and calls were dealt with on a priority basis," he said.

"Considering the weather the number of incidents was lower than might have been expected but staff reacted to problems on council land and where the highway was affected."

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