Hundreds of people attended an Oxford church over the weekend to see a minister who claims to be able to help sufferers of a range of illnesses.

People who claimed they suffered from anxiety, depression, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer queued up to meet the Rev Melvin Banks.

The 70-year-old, from Chippenham, in Wiltshire, held what he calls Miracle Healing Sessions at the Word Fountain Christian Ministries, in Cowley, over the weekend, attracting about 300 people.

Gloria Dandridge, from Cowley, who has advanced cancer, claimed to have experienced some relief after the prayer event on Sunday.

She said: "I'm a Roman Catholic, but I'm a great believer. I have received prayer before, but this is the first time that Reverend Banks has prayed for me.

"It's a lovely feeling when it happens. I can't sit down for too long with my illness and I have had so much treatment in the past that I have lost some of the feeling in my fingertips. But this makes me feel so much better afterwards."

Mr Banks told the congregation that as a child he was saved from death by the power of prayer, after he fell into a river and almost drowned.

When he was pulled out of the water and found to have no pulse, Mr Banks said that his mother held him to her chest and prayed life back into him.

Mr Banks said although the healing session on Sunday had over-run by an hour and a half, the day had been a huge success.

He said: "There was so much energy in the room. A lot of power. And after the service a lot of people said they felt completely healed, and were very thankful.

"I often joke the doctors don't like me, because I send so many healthy people back to them, but we do ask that people check with them before coming off any medication.

"I came to Oxford to give the Devil a hard time, and we certainly did, but I'm very tired now."

Mr Banks's wife, Lilian said she was confident people would not be disappointed by her husband's style of healing.

She added: "People are once again turning to religion, not just in their dark times, but every day."