MORE than 1,000 homes had their electricity cut off as storms lashed Mid Sussex yesterday.

High winds and heavy

rain swept across the area throughout the morning, leaving a trail of devastation.

Firecrews at Haywards Heath were called out seven times in three hours to deal with fallen power cables and trees.

Homes and villages stretching from Haywards Heath, Ditchling and Burgess Hill were cut off for several hours as Seeboard engineers battled to restore power.

Spokesman Graham Amy said this morning: "All power has now been restored to the homes affected.

Engineers worked throughout yesterday and last night to fix power lines and install

emergency cables.

"Obviously at a time like this we are stretched to our full capacity but we worked as quickly as we

possibly could to get things back to normal as soon as possible.

"At first we thought only about 50 homes had been affected but as the storm continued we were

getting more and more calls."

Roads in Bolney and between Ardingly, Lindfield, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill were blocked by fallen trees and fire crews said it was a miracle no

drivers had been hurt.

And in Crawley a man suffered head injuries and had to be taken

to East Surrey Hospital,

Redhill, when a 7ft oak tree

branch fell on him as he stood in his garden in Rusper Road, Ifield.

There were fears that a stream notorious for flooding its banks

in Hassocks would cause

major problems for homes and

gardens.

But Hassocks fire station sub officer Trevor Davey said all drains and the stream's banks had been properly cleared of debris and there were no reports of flooding.

A fire brigade spokesman said: "We had several calls in a very short space of time which were mainly to do with fallen trees and minor flooding."

The clean-up operation was

continuing this morning as the remaining debris and trees were cleared.

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