An Oxford church was so badly damaged during this week's storms that it will be months before services return to normal.

The Rev Bruce Gillingham said he was close to tears when he saw the damage at St Clement's Church, in Marston Road.

The first bout of torrential rain on Tuesday evening caused part of the church roof to cave in.

But while insurance workers were inside the building on Wednesday afternoon assessing the damage, yet more rain poured down, causing another section of the roof to collapse.

A clean-up operation has begun, but the vicar says it will be months before services can resume at the church. Architects and builders are due to assess the damage and begin work soon.

The nearby St Clement's Family Centre has become a makeshift church where services will be held until further notice.

Mr Gillingham said: "We discovered the damage early on Wednesday morning when we arrived for a prayer session.

"The guttering system had just been overwhelmed.

"The insurance assessor was in the church taking notes and photos when the second downpour happened on Wednesday.

"He said he had never seen anything like it before in his life. He was taking pictures as it actually happened."

Mr Gillingham was also there and described the scenes he witnessed as frightening and shocking.

He said: "I was close to tears. To see all this water just flooding into the church was devastating.

"I could see the damage happening in front of me. There was rubbish, damaged equipment, wrecked carpets and then the roof collapsed into the creche area, wrecking that."

Industrial dehumidifiers are being used to remove as much water from the church as possible.

Mr Gillingham said the church had recently undergone a structural inspection and no problems were found.

"It's a real shock," said Mr Gillingham. "No one I've spoken to who has seen the damage has ever witnessed anything like this. It's awful to see the church like this but we are hopeful this could be a step forward -- in repairs made to the building but also in the way people will rally round to help.

"The insurance company has been very helpful and we hope they will be able to meet our full costs."

Oxfordshire fire crews answered 60 emergency calls during the peak of the storms on Wednesday afternoon, which wreaked havoc across the county.