Storm Frank wreaks havoc on West Bromwich graveyard

The storm felled a massive section of a tree overhanging the church's graveyard, with the broken branch landing directly on graves at All Saints Church Graveyard.

This was set to be removed today after being brought down in the early hours of Wednesday as the Black Country was hit by the storm.

Verger David Lord said it was not yet known if any of the graves had been damaged.

Church bosses will only know if repair work needs to be carried out once they have moved the branches from the site.

Mr Lord said: "The church has got it under control and we've got people ready to remove it. I came to the church on Wednesday and it had been brought down.

"Any damage will be fixed by the church itself – everything is in hand.

"At the moment we can't actually tell how much damage has been caused – we will find out when we move the tree.

"We've brought a chainsaw to the site and people are going to be doing it today."

Paul Hunt, treasurer of the Friends of All Saints Church Graveyard, said the group was willing to help out in whatever manner was needed.

The Friends have worked to clear up the graveyard in recent years, with a particular focus on the final resting places of West Bromwich Albion stars Billy Bassett and George 'Spry' Woodhall.

Both former players are buried at All Saints Church in All Saints Way.

Work has been carried out to clear weeds and overgrown shrubs and spruce up the weather-worn graves.

Mr Hunt said all efforts would be taken to work with the church to clear up the newly-felled branches.

"The piece of tree that has been brought down is very substantial – it has to be 25ft or 30ft long," he said. "It looks to be covering eight to 10 graves, with a few of them looking like they've been pushed over.

"It will certainly take quite a lot of work to cut it all away, and there's still a piece of tree balancing on there which might need to be moved as well.

"There are a lot of old trees around there, so I'm surprised that more haven't come down."

Fellow friends group member Roy Jones, from the Yew Tree Estate on the border of Sandwell and Walsall, said it would be sad if the havoc wrought by the storm disrupted the group's efforts.

He said: "It will be a shame if there is any damage to any graves.

"We've done so much work down there."

The impact of Storm Frank was also keenly felt at a popular bird centre near Wolverhampton.

Severe winds struck The Owl and Falconry Centre at Shipley and destroyed the centre's aviary which houses 70 birds – many of which are still missing.

Residents are now being urged to keep on the lookout for over a dozen birds, including harris hawks and eagle owls, which are still unaccounted for.

Karl Law, who has been in charge at the centre since it opened its doors in 2012, said: "We came in on Wednesday morning and turned the horse box over as it had turned over in the night. We came down to the farm and watched the 100ft by 40ft aviary lift up in the air and fall over and smash into smithereens.

"The birds are all out loose and we have people looking for them.

"We have caught three so far. We had 70 birds of prey, we have lost 16 at the moment that we cannot find."

Among the birds lost are hawks, eagle owls, eagles

The centre, based on Bridgnorth Road, has now been forced to cancel a display at Tettenhall Transport Heritage Centre's open day at Smestow Valley, today.

There were due to be birds of prey demonstrations at the event, but centre bosses have been forced to pull out in light of the damage.