Continuing strong winds have prevented repairs to the damaged roof at Epsom Racecourse from starting before tomorrow.

The racecourse was evacuated and all roads leading onto the Downs were closed this morning after severe winds saw part of the roof of the £23.5m Duchess Stand, which opened less than three years ago, torn away causing insulation and debris to be strewn across the surrounding area.

Locals believe gusts this morning exceeded 60mph but it still unclear why the roof should have failed at such speeds.

JSC Sport, which represents the racecourse, confirmed that a full investigation into what went wrong will begin tomorrow when contractors would also start work to make the roof safe.

Nearby roads reopened at 2.30pm but Surrey Police will continue to monitor the situation and may need to impose further closures if the wind picks up again.

Mark Barrett, station manager at Epsom fire station told the Epsom Guardian he deemed the conditions too treacherous to attempt to secure the roof as severe wind and rain battered the Downs.

He said: “We have got the equipment and could have gotten that high but under the circumstances there was nothing we could do safely.

“The advice we gave them was to evacuate the building and then we shut all the roads.

“I must admit it was a lot more than I expected it to be.

“We often get called to unsafe structures when we get high winds but this was quite severe.

“Where the roof panels had been torn away and were hanging over the side in those winds they were lethal.

“So my first concern was to get members of the public away from the danger around it.”

“The other side was also beginning to lift as well.”

“It’s not going to be a small job and the whole roof will need to be inspected.”

The closest Met Office observation point was at Kenley which recorded gusts of 56mph, however with the Downs in such an exposed location, residents believe winds were in fact much higher.

Graham Goodwin from Shawley Crescent in Epsom Downs said: “Whatever the Met Office are saying I can categorically assure you that wind speeds on and around the Downs were way above 44mph from the early hours this morning.

“There’s a major difference with exposed high ground - certainly from our home just down the road from the racecourse I was concerned that there might be trees down or roof tiles lost, simply judging by the wind speeds from at least 4am this morning.

“I’m no meteorologist but would estimate from prior storms up here that gusts were 60mph+ even as late as 8am this morning.

“Even down at lower ground in Ewell the gusts were such that it was difficult to walk along the car park at Ewell West station this morning.

“The wind this morning was exceptionally strong, as bad as anything we’ve seen in the last couple of years.”

A JSC Sport spokesperson said: “Any scheduled events in the Duchess Stand will be rescheduled into adjoining Queens’s Stand until the cleanup operation has been finished.

“Experts are starting their investigation tomorrow so until then it is impossible to evaluate the cost of the damage.

“Contractors are arriving on site tomorrow to make the roof safe in light of the continued forecast bad weather.

The £23.5m Duchess stand, which has an 11,000 capacity, was opened by her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cornwall, in April 2009.

The venue, which was designed for both racing and non-racing events, boasts a large 1123sqm betting hall on the ground floor which doubles as an 800-seat conference venue outside of racing.

The first floor has three restaurants and is flexible for conferences, banqueting and racing whilst the second floor has fourteen private boxes and the Downs View Suite, that can host just over 100 people.

The racecourse is expected to open as normal tomorrow.