A 24-year-old teacher from Kent found himself in the midst of the violent floods which battered a Cornish village.

Stephen Horn, a regular visitor to Boscastle, watched in amazement and then horror as the waters swept through the picturesque village.

"At first it was quite a spectacle - it looked like the Amazon coming through," Mr Horn said after returning to his home in Victoria Road, Canterbury.

"Very soon I realised that it was going to be a financial disaster and as the cars and vans came past I began to look inside them to check if there were people there."

Although Mr Horn was perched on a cliff top, he still feared he was not safe from the destructive forces of nature which had been unleashed. He felt as if the cliff might subside at any moment.

Mr Horn, who works at Littlebourne Primary School, was holidaying in Cornwall with three friends. He travelled down to Boscastle the day before the disaster.

"I was talking to the residents on the morning before and everything seemed so normal - it all seems so surreal now.

"But for me the impact of what happened did not really sink in until I was driving away from Boscastle. That is when it really sunk in what had happened."

The flash flood happened after 75mm of water fell in two hours over the village, which sits on the confluence of the rivers Jordan and Valency.

Surface water lying on the hilltops converged in the village and created the torrent which ripped through Boscastle.

Trees were ripped up and buildings and cars damaged and although nobody is thought to have died the cost of the disaster is expected to run to millions of pounds.

Mr Horn watched as rescue helicopters circled above the plucking those caught up in it to safety.

He says his thoughts are now with those whose lives have been turned upside by the flood.

"I'm concerned for the residents. It must be very hard for those who have seen everything just wash away in front of them.

"This is going to affect some people for a very long time and it may be Christmas before the traders can start working again.

"And I would also encourage anyone who can help to contribute to a Boscastle fund which has been set up through the vicarage down there."

Mr Horn was able to take a series of photographs of the flood and the havoc it wreaked.

He spoke to Km-fm about his experience and urged people to visit the village once the huge clear-up operation has been completed...