COUNCIL teams are continuing the clean-up across west Cheshire after working throughout the night to deal with the damaged caused by last night’s storms.

Cheshire West and Chester Council’s (CWAC) highways and streetscene staff have responded to report of around 150 fallen trees across the borough.

Reports began coming in shortly after 4pm and teams worked around the clock to remove trees and unblock roads.

In several communities local residents stepped in to help to clear roads and footpaths.

Gangs with road sweepers are out across the borough today to clear away any remaining debris.

CWAC has also been working closely with ScottishPower to remove trees that have brought down power cables.

Around 52,000 homes are without power across the ScottishPower network area.

It was estimated at midnight last night that power cuts had affected approximately 12,500 properties across Cheshire.

Councillor Lynn Riley, CWAC’s executive member for localities, said: “I would like to pay tribute to our highways and streetscene teams who worked throughout the night to deal with an unprecedented number of fallen trees.

“The winds were somewhat stronger in west Cheshire than forecast so the damage was more widespread than we had anticipated.

“Despite having to redeploy staff to clearing so many trees, our highways teams still managed to complete overnight gritting across all the usual routes.”

“I would also like to say a heartfelt thank you to the many local residents who braved the unpleasant conditions to clear debris.

“It is very gratifying to see that community spirit is very much alive and well in west Cheshire.”

CWAC is liaising with ScottishPower to ensure that supplies are restored as early as possible.

Social Care staff responded to a small number of vulnerable people overnight who were affected by power cuts.