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Drinkers who nipped out for a quiet pint were stunned to see a huge TORNADO heading towards their beer garden.

Customers flocked to the venue's pub garden and watched the towering dark clouds circle the sky in amazement just after 8pm last night.

The pub's chef Phil Hannam was taking a break when he spotted the tornado in the skies above the small Suffolk village of Thorpeness and snapped a picture.

Tornadoes are more commonly seen across America, however the coastal location of the village means that locals can catch a glimpse of them every so often.

(Image: Reinhard Olbrich/Geoff Robinson Photography)

Phil and his colleagues at The Kitchen @ Thorpeness restaurant were stunned to see it circling over their village.

(Image: Phil Hannam /Geoff Robinson Photography)

Amy Youngs, manager of The Kitchen @ Thorpeness, where Phil works, said: "It was muggy and stormy yesterday and we had all sorts of weather, but we've never seen a tornado over Suffolk before.

"We were stunned when Phil came back and showed us the photo on his mobile phone."

And several locals in the area took to Twitter to share images of the incident.

In 2010 the village of Great Livermere near Bury St Edmunds was damaged by a tornado.

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air which rotates while in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cloud.

They are often referred to as twisters and often travel a few miles before dissipating.

The most extreme tornadoes can attain wind speeds of more than 300 miles per hour, but often have wind speeds of less than 110 miles per hour.