STRONG winds on Sunday picked up a gazebo, blowing it across hedges and fences and depositing it in a neighbouring garden.

According to local weather recorder Frank Hill, gusts reached up to 40mph and were experienced all over Malvern and the surrounding area.

June and Garry Ramsey, of Pickersleigh Road, Malvern, witnessed the strength of the wind around lunchtime on Sunday. A gazebo was lifted by the wind and blown into their gar-den.

"We were sitting in our conservatory when suddenly this large gazebo came flying through the air and landed almost on our prize runner beans and tomatoes," said Mrs Ramsey, who described the wind as a "tremendous freak gust".

The couple found that the gazebo had come from a neighbour's garden.

Mr Hill, who worked for the Meteorological Office, for 40 years and uses special equipment to measure various weather conditions, confirmed that the wind was very strong on Sunday.

"There were two-three hours of very gusty winds," he said, adding that the heavy rain a few days earlier would have softened the ground and made it easier for pegs and stakes securing gazebos and tents to be lifted out.

Mr Hill said the day had begun cool and cloudy but that temperatures in the afternoon had reached 22 degrees.

"The combination of the warmth and the fresh winds set up strong gusts," he said.