A COUPLE have spoken of their lucky escape after a reported mini-tornado swept through Lowestoft at the weekend, toppling a tree onto their car.Alan and Christine Rose, from Carlton Colville, were heading along Denmark Road in Lowestoft to go to B&Q on Saturday in appalling weather conditions when a lime tree crashed onto their bonnet.

A COUPLE have spoken of their lucky escape after a reported mini-tornado swept through Lowestoft at the weekend, toppling a tree onto their car.

Alan and Christine Rose, from Carlton Colville, were heading along Denmark Road in Lowestoft to go to B&Q on Saturday in appalling weather conditions when a lime tree crashed onto their bonnet.

Mr Rose said: 'We were driving on the road and it came over all dark. We couldn't see anything at all so I really slowed right down. 'The rain and sleet was coming down so hard it darkened everything out and we had the windscreen wipers on full.

'Luckily enough I was only doing about 10-15mph then all of a sudden I saw this darkening heading towards the car. I braked and that was it, the tree was on our car.'

Still sitting inside the couple's Proton Wira, Mr Rose, 58, called the emergency services and waited for help for his wife.

'I could get out but the wife couldn't - she had back problems and her neck was aching so she couldn't twist and turn to get out of the car,' he said. 'The firemen had to cut the back seats out.'

Mr Rose, who works at Brock Builders in Kessingland, said: 'It was out of the blue, completely unexpected. Believe it or not after I'd been out of the car for half an hour there were clear blue skies and it was a lovely day.'

Mrs Rose, 51, who works at Harrod UK in Lowestoft, was taken for x-rays at James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston but was released on the same day with no injuries.