Heavy winds have brought the spire of St Thomas' Church in Wells, Somerset to the ground.

Videos posted on social media show the moment the spire wobbled and then fell from the Victorian church built in 1857.

Speaking to Sky News, St Thomas’ vicar, Rev Claire Towns said the community is “shocked” to see the damage to the spire but equally “thankful that nobody was hurt or even worse killed".

Winds of up to 122mph were recorded at the Needles on the Isle of Wight on Friday leaving more than 90,000 people without power.

At least four people have been confirmed dead as a result of fallen trees, flying debris and structural damage.

Rev Claire continued: "I was more concerned about the trees that surround the vicarage garden than I was about the church because I thought to myself well it's been here since Victorian times, it must have seen some weather since then.

"And then literally a couple of minutes later I took a call from the police asking if I would come and look at the spire and 'should it look like that ' and I went 'certainly not'.

"Then within 10 minutes of that conversation with the police, I was upstairs at the time looking out the window and I saw the top of the spire and the weather vane come crashing down. It all happened so quickly, all in the space of 20 minutes or so."

In a Tweet, Emma Brown, church buildings adviser for the Diocese Bath & Wells confirmed Strachey Conservation have collected the fallen masonry and are assessing the damage.

It’s unknown how much it will cost to repair.