GUSTING winds caused part of a huge tree to come crashing down into a bus stop on a normally busy road in Gorleston at the weekend.The 30ft long branch fell across the street from the garden in High Road at around 1pm on Sunday, spanning the length of the road.

GUSTING winds caused part of a huge tree to come crashing down into a bus stop on a normally busy road in Gorleston at the weekend.

The 30ft long branch fell across the street from the garden in High Road at around 1pm on Sunday, spanning the length of the road.

Nobody was injured, and members of the community quickly rallied together, calling the emergency services and diverting cars before police arrived.

Danny Porter, 23, was staying at his girlfriend's nearby when he heard the branch, part of a Poplar tree, slam into the register office wall.

He said: “We were just about to watch the Formula One when we heard an almighty crash. We looked out of the window and saw a massive tree blocking off the whole street. It must have taken a hell of a force.

“The conditions were terrible, really windy, but there were lots of people telling drivers to go back and everyone was talking to each other . There must have been around 20 people gathered around from nearby houses.

“There seemed to be a really good spirit and everyone rallied together to help. The High Road is usually pretty busy and the tree would have definitely crushed a car if it had come down at another time.”

Shocked tree owner Derek Jackson said: “That road is usually busy but on Sunday it is generally quite quiet, so it was very fortunate. It came completely out of the blue but the wind must have been blowing at a force six or seven and the rain was lashing down. There is still two-thirds of the tree left standing. We used to have pair of Poplars but I took one down last year. This one looked all right, so we kept it - we will take the rest of it down now though.”

Police arrived shortly after receiving a call saying that a tree was “hanging by a thread”, diverting traffic, closing the street at Jupiter Road until 2.43pm while an emergency team from the Highways Agency removed the branch.

Fifty-three-year-old Tom Paine, a neighbour to Mr Jackson, lives on Burnt Road and noticed an unusual amount of traffic outside his house. He said: “I was in my front room and all these cars started coming down the street. It's a narrow street and it was strange to see such traffic so I came outside to see what was going on."

He praised the response of the authorities, saying they had been swift in getting to the scene.