HIGH winds, heavy rain and hailstones brought chaos to East Lancashire today after a stormy night across the county.

In Buckholes Lane, Brinscall, one person was taken to hospital after part of a tree fell on to an L-registered Rover and brought down power lines.

And a police spokeswoman said 999 operators were deluged with calls as people reported fallen trees and floodwater on roads.

She said: "The operators have not had time to draw breath, there have been so many calls. We would ask people not to dial 999 unless it is a genuine emergency such as a person injured.

"If it is just a tree or branches on the road, they should call their local police station."

In Langho, 20 families living on Whinney Lane were trapped when trees at either end of the narrow road were blown over early today, blocking the lane.

Resident Brian Race said: "I asked council officer to check the trees earlier this year when another tree fell across the road, but nothing was done and now this has happened."

Emergency services were kept busy in Ribble Valley, where several trees were brought down by high winds, two of them blocking roads.

A spokesman for Clitheroe police said calls were coming in thick and fast.

Trees were brought down in Ribble Lane, Chatburn; Mitton Road, Whalley, Downham, Pendleton and outside the Red Rock pub, near Sabden.

Trees blocked Ribble Lane, Chatburn, and the approach road to Pendle Hill from Clitheroe. Calls are coming in all the time with details of damage caused by the storm. And the weather is expected to get a lot worse," the spokesman said.

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