An off-duty fireman saved his neighbour's house from severe damage - after a lightning strike left a 50ft branch dangling above the roof.

The potentially devastating tree strike happened in Bridge Street, Witney, at 10am last Friday as heavy storms caused chaos across the county.

The power of the lightning bolt broke a large branch completely off, leaving it balancing on other branches 100ft above the house.

Witney fire station manager Steve Fletcher was at home and realised that his neighbour's house would be ruined if nothing was done.

He said: "I saw that a large part of the tree was hanging over the house next door. Any wind and it would have come crashing straight down into the property."

The Witney fire station manager called up his colleagues and they came straight round.

They spent two hours on a hydraulic platform carefully chopping up the branch with a chainsaw and bringing it down bit by bit.

The lightning strike has left the 100-year-old tree with a large crack and it may have to be chopped down Mr Fletcher added: "I'm very sad about the tree - but I'm thankful the incident was not more serious.

"I've seen things like this when I'm out with the fire service but it's different when it happens on your own property."