Gales batter quake-hit properties

Many chimneys have been made unsafe across the region

Gales battering East Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire are threatening to dislodge chimneys weakened by this week's earthquake, firemen have warned.

Humberside Fire Service has been called out to dangerous chimney stacks and roofing at properties in Bridlington, Hull, Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

Firefighters had attended about 20 incidents by early Friday evening.

In one incident a chimney stack fell on to a bungalow in Coldstream Close, Tweed Grove, Hull, but no-one was hurt.

Elsewhere a driver was taken to hospital after a car was hit by a tree which fell in high winds on the A165 Beverley to Driffield road.

Firefighters freed the trapped person from a Ford Focus which blocked the main road.

In Scunthorpe, a woman was treated in hospital for neck pains after part of a stable was blown onto a car.

The Met Office issued a severe weather warning for the region, with gusts expected to reach up to 80mph overnight.

In the early hours of Wednesday, properties across the region were shaken by the biggest earthquake to hit the UK in almost 25 years.

'Dangerous job'

The epicentre of the 5.2 magnitude quake was near Market Rasen in Lincolnshire.

The fire service received hundreds of calls from concerned residents in the aftermath of the tremor.

Humberside Fire Service spokesman Glenn Ramsden said: "For the second time within a few days our crews are braving the elements to make structures safe.

"This can be a very dangerous job and we advise people to stay clear of the area that our firefighters are working in."

"Since last summer we've had to deal with floods, an earthquake and now gales. The only thing we haven't had is a heatwave."

He urged residents to have any damaged property checked out by a competent builder as soon as possible.

"If the damage is not attended to, it will only get worse and should more severe weather hit the area, the damage could become life threatening," added Mr Ramsden.