A FREAK weather system ripped through parts of Redditch on Friday morning leaving a devastating path of destruction.

The strong winds - which residents said they believed was a 'mini tornado' - hit areas such as Batchley, Abbeydale and Church Hill at about 10am on Friday, destroying fences, uprooting trees, breaking branches from trees, and even lifting a 12 foot trampoline into the air and dumping it in a neighbours home destroying a gazebo.

Mark Keith Southam, from Sanders Close in Batchley, whose trampoline was lifted into the air, said: "The mini tornado definitely hit us.

"It picked up my girls' trampoline and dumped it over the 6ft garden fence into my neighbour's garden. There was also lots of damage to trees around Batchley Pond.

Commenting on the Redditch Advertiser facebook page Joanne Reynolds, who lives next to Batchley pond, described the incident as "crazy".

There were reports of a similar event in Worcester where strong winds hit allotments in Droitwich Road destroying greenhouses and overturning sheds.

Describing the damage as "incredible" the allotment's site supervisor Dan Robb said he had been on the site first thing in the morning and all was well, but had later been called by a friend telling him about the damage.

"Thank God no one was there at the time," he said.

Local weatherman Ian Michaelwaite, from forecasters Netweather, said the destruction could have been caused by a mini tornado or another system known as straight-line winds.

"Straight-line winds are caused when there is a band of really intense rain and embedded with that was a lot of wind," he said.

"These are sometimes seen in cities as a result of the layout of the land, with elements such as fences.

"Suddenly the wind can go from 40mph to 60mph in a straight line.

"With trees in full leaf at this time of year the winds can be spectacular.

"But without seeing it it's very, very difficult to say for sure."

Meanwhile the county has been issued a yellow weather warning for unseasonable windy weather.

People are being warned the powerful jet stream stretching across the Atlantic into the UK could lead to disruption to transport as well as a risk of damage to trees.

Storms and possibly localised flooding have been predicted for the end of this week.