HUNDREDS of Totton residents were without electricity for two days after an oak tree brought down power lines.

The 250-year-old tree crashed down at the height of Sunday's storms as Hampshire was battered by winds gusting up to 80mph.

A Southern Electric spokesman said today: "The 120ft tree survived the hurricane in 1987 and the other big blow in 1990.

"But the ground is a lot wetter than it was in 1987 and the tree was less stable.

"The oak was also in full leaf. The large amount of wind resistance turned it into a huge sail and resulted in it being blown over.''

The spokesman said several hundred residents had their power supplies disrupted.

"They would have been off from Sunday morning until late yesterday afternoon,'' he said.

"A total of 6,000 customers across Hampshire were affected by the storms. All but 1,000 had their power restored by 6am yesterday and virtually everyone is back on today.

"More than 300 engineers have been out in atrocious conditions and have done a fantastic job.''

A team from the Environment Agency removed a huge tree that crashed into Bartley Water, Totton, after being uprooted by the winds.

A spokesman said the tree had been weakened by disease.

He added: "We could have had major problems if the wind had been accompanied by prolonged heavy rain.

"Luckily the rain eased off and there was no flooding as a result of the tree coming down in the river.''