Strong tremor reported in Britain

British emergency services were deluged with calls this morning following what police believe was a strong tremor.

A West Midlands Police spokeswoman said that the force received “lots and lots” of calls when people across the region felt the ground quake beneath them.

“We are getting lots and lots of calls following what is believed to be a strong earth tremor at 12.54am which occurred in the West Midlands, certainly across the middle of the country, possibly nationwide.”

She said they had received no reports of any injuries or damage to property.

Staff with West Midlands Fire Service, whose control room is based in the centre of Birmingham, felt the tremor.

An operator said he felt the building shake and shortly afterwards they began receiving calls from across the region, with the body coming from Walsall and Smethwick.

A couple of people had called the brigade complaining of structural damage to their homes, but the fire service do not believe the tremor caused any serious damage.

Duty Officer Bill Rice of West Midlands Ambulance service said he also felt the tremor from the control room in Dudley.

He said: “The building shook for about 30 seconds and all the alarms sounded.

“We’ve had a couple of calls to people who are rather upset and frightened but we have dealt with those.”

Richard Flynn, from Oldbury in the West Midlands, said: “The house started shaking quite violently at about 1am. All the power was cut off and seemed to be so for about a five-mile radius.

“The shaking and trembling was really quite severe. Quite a few people came out of their houses wondering what was going on. The streets were in darkness.”

He said the power was restored around 20 minutes later.