A 'MINI TORNADO' ripped through part of Didcot, uprooting trees, damaging power cables and causing thousands of pounds of damage on November 29 1984.

Betty Brind [pictured] cleaned up shattered roof tiles and other storm debris after the freak whirlwind raged across the town.

While nobody was hurt in the hour-long deluge gaping holes as large as six-foot appeared in roofs and homes.

One resident of Collingwood Avenue, Dave Hammond, 37, said the blast from the gale was so strong that he was scared his bedroom window would blow in.

He told this newspaper at the time: "I stood and held the window with a blanket as it buckled under the pressure."

His wife Pat Hammond described the carnage as 'an awful, shocking experience.'