A family in Essex were extremely fortunate not be seriously injured when a 400-year-old oak tree uprooted by Storm Eunice crashed through the roof of their house.

The detached property in Brentwood was smashed by a falling tree on Friday, destroying several rooms and crushing a car on the drive.

Sven Good said he was working in his parents’ house when he heard “a massive bang”.

He said: “The whole house shook.

“My girlfriend was working in another room and told me she had heard something, and asked if a window had smashed.”

“I said: ‘No, the house has just been destroyed’.”

The tree took part of the roof and badly damaged a number of rooms on the first and ground floors.

“We stood outside looking at what the storm had done, and my dad had a tear in his eye – and then we did the very British thing, and said, ‘Let’s go to the pub for a pint’,” Good added.

The family now expect to have to knock down quite a large part of the house and rebuild it once the tree is removed this week.