PASSENGERS trying to travel by train on Monday faced chaos as a tree was being cleared from the line near Haslemere, after the worst storm for a decade swept across the south in the early hours of the morning.

More than 300 trees were brought down across the south of England, and more than 30 were reported down across the South West Trains network.

Trains on the Portsmouth to Waterloo line north of Liphoook and Haslemere did not run before noon because of the tree, and a reduced train service operated on routes which were later declared safe to reopen. Near Alton, another tree fell across the railway line serving Farnham and Aldershot.

A fallen tree blocked the A3 and stopped southbound traffic for a-quarter-of-a-mile near the Liphook Services in the early hours of Monday.

Midhurst Road, in Liphook, was blocked just before Hollycombe, as was Hammer Road in Haslemere.

For full story, see this week's Liphook Herald.