A FATHER has told of the terrifying moment a tree crashed onto him as he lay in bed.

Dick Wilkinson, 65, was trapped in his bedroom after a 60ft beech tree fell on the roof of his Winchester home this morning.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Echo Mr Wilkinson said: “I was lying in bed half asleep half awake because of the storm when suddenly there was this incredible crash. I knew exactly what had happened.

“When I came to either a tile or a brick or a piece of branch struck my head quite hard luckily it only tore my ear, so I am on the way to get that sorted out now.”

Daughter Eleanor, 20, studying classics at Oxford, said she was woken by the sound of the tree crashing through the roof and tried desperately to get into her father's room.

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“There was just this crash, I figured it must have been one of the trees so I went to dad's room but I couldn't get in. It was just wedged shut.

“It was a lucky escape in the end, the firefighters managed to get him out.”

Crews from Winchester were called and used a ladder to help rescue Mr Wilkinson from the Westley Close property just after 4am today.

A Hampshire Fire and Rescue spokesman said: "It must have been quite a shock to him to find a tree in his bedroom. It could have been a lot more serious."

This morning the pair returned to the address to see the damage. Mr Wilkinson, a retired teacher at Winchester College, said: “It does look really quite devastating, I am just so lucky that I wasn't lying on the other side of the bed. It was very close.”

Mr Wilkinson's wife Angela, 50, was visiting family in London last night, but Mr Wilkinson said she could have been seriously injured if she were there.

“The debris missed me by inches but it would have been on her side of the bed.”

Mr Wilkinson was treated for injuries to his ear by paramedics but was this morning at Salisbury hospital for treatment that may have to involve plastic surgery.

Cambridge graduate Mr Wilkinson is presently chairman of governors of the University of Winchester after being head of Spanish at Winchester College.

He has lived in Winchester for more than 20 years. He joined the diplomatic service in 1972 but left in 2005.

He was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1991 in recognition of his service at the British Embassy in Paris.

The drama came as winds with speeds of up to 70 miles per hour battered Hampshire last night.

Hampshire police dealt with more than 200 calls due to flooding and fallen trees.

The M3 just north of Winchester was closed for almost an hour after a ten vehicle collision at about 7am.

The Met Office is forecasting more storms for later this week.