A HIGHWAYS chief has said it was lucky no-one was hurt in the county during Storm Doris as a major clean up operation started.

Head of Worcestershire County Council's Highways department, John Fraser, spoke after teams started removing about 300 trees, toppled in the storm which wreaked havoc countywide.

A mother and daughter had a close shave as a tree fell only inches from their home in Worcester.

Yesterday, crews were out across the county, sawing felled trees into smaller parts for removal.

Among the trees to have been toppled by the storm was a horse chestnut tree which is believed to be one of the biggest in Worcestershire.

Mr Fraser said: ""It was very lucky no one was seriously hurt in Worcestershire.

"Take the tree coming down in Severn Terrace in Worcester- it is very lucky a pedestrian or someone in a vehicle wasn't crushed.

"It is a relief there was no reports of anyone physically injured.

"Thursday was an exceptional busy day, one of the busiest I can ever remember.

"I want to thank all staff, and contractors for their work. There was also excellent co-operation between us, West Mercia Police and Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service."

Nationally, three people died in the storm: a mother was blown into the path of a roadsweeper in Swindon, a lorry driver crashed in London and a woman was struck by debris in Wolverhampton.

At the height of the storm wind speeds reached as high as 65mph in the county, damaging buildings, forcing roads to be closed for hours and leaving homes without power when live power cables were brought down.

Among the incidents crews were called out to were a large tree crashing to the floor in Severn Terrace, just clipping a van as it crashed to the ground, an "enormous" tree that fell into the A442 in Bridgnorth, a large tree that blocked a road in Colwall and another tree that crashed to the floor near Holt Heath.

At the height of the storm the fire service went out to 64 "weather related emergencies", many involving fallen trees and dangerous structures.

Area commander Jon Pryce said: “Our crews and officers worked hard to ensure that our local communities were safe, and disruption was kept to a minimum.”

Meanwhile a woman has described the terrifying moment a tree crashed to the floor during the storm, stopping only inches from her house in Dines Green.

The occupier of the house, in Gresham Road, was at the property with her daughter when the tree fell at 11.30am.

The woman, who did not want to be named, said: "It was very upsetting, I was here at the time and I was shaken by it.

"It hasn't come through any of our windows - we were lucky. Now we have to arrange for it to be cleared."

Her next door neighbour added: "I was going up the stairs when I heard a massive bang, and I thought 'what was that'.

"Imagine if it had fallen the other way onto the path, when children were here.

"It could have been a lot worse."

At Camp House, in Grimley, a historic horse chestnut tree also went crashing to the floor, and into the River Severn at around 10am.

Landlord Jim Wainwright, 72, said: "It is very sad, we have been told it was the biggest tree in Worcestershire.

"It is going to be a big job to clear up, it needs to be a priority.

"Part of it could get swept away, and would crash into Worcester Bridge within less than 10 hours."