A mini-tornado ripped through a housing estate causing thousands of pounds damage to homes and gardens.

The twister wrenched a tree from its roots and hurled it 50ft across a road when it struck Laurel Walk in Horsham shortly after 8am yesterday.

It also damaged roof tiles, fences and greenhouses in Macleod Road and Hornbeam Close.

Residents said the tornado whipped through the estate in minutes and some feared their roofs would be ripped off.

Gail Treagus, of Laurel Walk, said she was terrified the uprooted tree would smash into her bedroom window.

She said: "We were just getting up and we saw something flying towards the window."

Neighbour Leonard Bradford also heard the whistling noise.

He said: "I thought it must be a mini-tornado because there was a whistling and a screaming noise and all the windows started to rattle. It was over in about 15 seconds before I really had time to get scared."

Firefighters spent an hour securing Beryl and Stan Potter's home in Hornbeam Close.

Beryl Potter said: "We were cooking breakfast and all of a sudden I saw a lump of wood flying towards the greenhouse.

"Then the pigeon loft went off its base and toppled over. We didn't know what was happening."

Mr Potter praised the fire brigade, saying it had done an excellent clean-up job.

Witnesses said there was an intense burst of hail before the tornado. Less than two hours later, the sun was shining again.

Jean McIntyre, 68, of Macleod Road, Horsham, said the estate was hit by a similar blast of wind less than a year ago.

She said: "If it happens again I'm moving. It just seems to be this area.

"It was unbelievable. I was sitting in my conservatory and it started coming round the houses.

"There was this horrendous noise and we saw all the fence panels suddenly popping up in the air.

"I had a very heavy exercise bike and it was just picked up and came crashing down on the other side of the garden.

"We've all got tiles down. All the conservatory windows flew open and the upstairs windows slammed.

"It was very frightening. I just didn't know what to do.

"The neighbours have been fantastic. They have been rallying round and people have been going round the houses to see if everybody is all right."

Her partner, Frank Denman, 74, said: "You could hear the wind whistling through the windows at first, it built up really quickly and then whoosh, there was this horrendous noise.

"It was a right whirler. It only lasted about seven seconds. But you could feel everything going, everything shaking with the pressure.

"It swept through the back and was just picking up the fence panels vertically and throwing them into the gardens one by one."

Beverley Turner, of Macleod Road, was inside with her children, Toby, three, and Sebastian, eight, and partner Adrian when she was woken by the noise.

She said: "I was still in bed because I had been up most of the night with the little one.

"I looked out of my window and everybody was out in their gardens and there was debris scattered everywhere."

Sub-officer Kieran Smith, of Horsham fire station, said six homes were affected and firefighters spent two-and-a-half hours at the scene.

Sussex is winning a reputation as the Tornado Alley of the UK.

The mini-tornado that struck Horsham is the latest in a series of freak storms to batter the county, with several roads in Bognor badly damaged by a tornado last year.