WHEN it comes to fishermen's tales, this angler has one better than most.

Albert Lovegrove, of Northway, Oxford, was sitting on the riverbank enjoying his favourite pastime when he thought he would move along the bank a little.

It was a move he'll always be glad he made - because a second later a 50ft ash tree came crashing down around him, in the exact spot he'd only seconds before moved from.

Mr Lovegrove, who was celebrating his 70th birthday at the time, said: "I had the shock of my life. I really thought that was it.

"If I had not moved when I did, there's no doubt that would have been the end of me. As it was the branches of the tree scratched my chest as they came down."

Mr Lovegrove regularly fishes at the spot, near The Perch Inn, Binsey, but has never before encountered problems there.

He said: "It all happened so quickly. I heard this cracking sound and then things seemed to happen in slow motion. The next thing I knew I was surrounded by branches and there was this huge tree right next to me.

"No one along the river could believe their eyes. Not only could they not believe such a huge tree had come down, but they couldn't believe I'd escaped unharmed. I had a lot of people coming up to me shaking my hand."

Mr Lovegrove said it will not deter him from fishing, although it took him some time to retrieve his tackle, which was caught under the tree.