NEIGHBOURS today spoke of their shock after a large tree toppled over in a Burnley street, wrecking two vehicles and missing a house by inches.

The tree fell in Talbot Drive, Briercliffe, at about 6pm yesterday following an afternoon of high winds.

A brick wall as well as a van and a car were all severely damaged by the tree trunk, which left the road blocked for several hours.

It also narrowly missed the house of pensioner Emily Wills, 73, who returned from a friend's house to find the top of the tree resting on her downstairs window and against the front door.

Emily, who has lived in the area for 26 years, said: "I couldn't believe what I saw when I came round the corner.

"It's just lucky that I wasn't in at the time and that the tree wasn't a bit taller.

"I have never known anything like this to happen in all my time here and I am just glad no one was hurt."

Neighbour and the owner of one of the smashed vehicles Sian Sourbutts, 37, said: "I didn't realise what was happening at first but my daughter Sian said she could see some branches on the car through the window.

"When I came out to look I realised it was serious and phoned my husband, Martin."

Police sealed off the street while tree fellers dismantled the tree using chainsaws.

The high winds also resulted in a number of trees falling and obstructing roads in other areas of the town.

One of the worst incidents was at Coal Clough Lane mid afternoon followed by a number of trees scattered along the Padiham By-pass.

A police spokesman said: "I was cycling home to Read and noticed quite a few trees had been blown down near Padiham.

"I am not aware of any accidents as a result but the council will have been contacted to remove the fallen trees."

Weathermen said the winds were not due to return today and predicted a dry, sunny day, turning cloudy later, with a maximum temperature of 18C.