A CLEAN-up operation was under way yesterday to remove the damage caused by a whirlwind over the weekend.

During the storm that swept across Oxfordshire on Saturday, a mini whirlwind formed and pulled up trees across Blackbird Leys, damaging people’s gardens and blocking roads.

Police community support officers were out from early in the morning yesterday to remove the debris and clear the roads.

In Ladenham Road, part of a tree fell across three gardens, missing people’s homes.

Abraham Clarke, 85, said the incident terrified him and his wife Olive, adding: “We could hardly see anything outside, the rain was blowing so hard.

“All of a sudden this great big tree fell and half of it came down in our garden.

“It blocked our front door, we couldn’t get out from the front of our house.”

The former lorry driver added: “It was frightening. I thought the tree was coming down on the house.

“If the rest of it had come down it would have caused a lot of damage.”

Fire crews cut the tree up and removed it from Mr Clarke’s garden, piling it up on the grass in front of his house.

Mr Clarke said: “We’re waiting for it to be taken away now.

“Small branches have fallen in the garden before but I’ve never seen weather like this.”

 

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