A BELOVED family camper van was crushed after a tree was felled in gale force winds.

The Blue Volkswagen camper van was parked on Osborne Road, Brighton, yesterday when a two storey tall tree was blown over and crushed it.

The tree came down during the night and had to be cleared by a specialist team from Brighton and Hove City Council.

One of the owners said: “It is a van that has been in the family for 14 years. We just had lots of body and paintwork done on it and we have a lot of happy memories of holidays in it.

“We are all really upset and it was really sentimental to us.”

Residents from the street described waking up to find the tree had come down.

Francesca Bell sent in pictures to The Argus she took while walking her children Frederick, 9, and Jemima, 7.

She said: “We did not see the tree come down but we heard the noise of the van that came to chop it up so we came outside to see the drama.

“It looks like the van has damaged the chassis and we could not get our car out.”

The 48-year-old added:”It is very sad for the family, but it is just lucky no one was hurt.”

Elsewhere in the county the high winds caused travel disruptions due to other felled trees and Shoreham Port recorded wind speed of 63mph.

The Lewes Road, Newhaven, was closed around Valley Road due to a fallen tree, affecting traffic between Newhaven and Piddinghoe.

Firefighters secured scaffolding in Warrior Square, Hastings, that had "come loose in the high winds” according to a fire service spokesman.

The Met Office warned of the risk of damage to trees, disruption to travel and possibly to power supplies, as well as surface water and spray on roads.