EMERGENCY Services were busy throughout the night as storm force winds and torrential rain battered West Dorset.

Dorset Fire and Rescue Service crews from Bridport, Crewkerne and Chard were called after a car got stuck in flooding on the Drimpton Road in Broadwindsor.

The incident happened just after 4pm yesterday afternoon, and the crews pushed the vehicle, with two adults and a child inside, to safety.

The crew from Sherborne was also called out to two separate incidents. The first was to rescue two people inside their car from flood water by pushing the vehicle to safety at Lillington, just after 2pm.

They were also called out to an incident at Highwood Bridge, Bishops Caundle, where they were forced to push one car and one van through floodwater to safety, just before 5pm.

Dorset Fire and Rescue Service is urging residents not to drive through flood water and to take diversions if they come across roads that have been flooded by the torrential rain.

A total of 25 people from all across the county were rescued from their cars stuck in flood water last night.

In West Bay this morning the road to the harbour at the junction with Meadowlands was under water as storm drains failed to cope with the volume of rain.

The River Bride in Burton Bradstock is nearly triple its normal water level according to the Environment Agency, currently standing at 1.41m. Its typical depth is 53cm.

A flood warning had also been issued for the harbours at West Bay and Lyme Regis during high tide last night and also for the River Char at Charmouth as the river threatened to burst its banks.

A flood warning was also issued for the Upper Frome from Maiden Newton to Dorchester.

The bad weather has also lead to several delays on the roads this morning. The Bridport-Weymouth Coast Road (B3157) was partially blocked in the early hours of this morning, but at 9.30am was deemed passable with the X53 bus resuming its full service.

In Lyme Regis, the high winds whipped up spectacular seas and ripped felt off the rooves of some of the Monmouth Beach chalets.

Charmouth Road at Dragon’s Hill was blocked late last night after a tree fell into the road, as was Newlands Bridge.

There was a large tree blocking the road at White Gates, and a tree was down partially blocking the road at Bottle Inn at Marshwood.

An overturned car was causing traffic delays at 7.30am this morning in Marshwood Vale with the car being recovered by 9.30am.

South West Trains also issued travel advice to their passengers warning of delays in their service throughout the day, with maintenance teams working throughout the day to clear fallen trees and six areas of flooding off their tracks.

If people do use the service, customers are advised to check the latest service information in advance of travelling.