REMEMBER when Colchester looked - and sounded - like this?

Paul Warner's nostalgic video of him driving around in his father's Ford Fiesta captures Colchester when Thatcher was in office, and when Radio Caroline was still broadcast from a ship, in early 1986.

As Paul wends his way through town with the radio on, most of Colchester's landmarks are instantly recognisable, but the cars, trees - and Brook Street traffic lights - have changed somewhat.

The video was one of several, which were filmed using a Sony Video8 camera attached to a tripod on the passenger seat, which was held up by Paul as he drove round.

Having moved to Australia in 1977, Paul came back and forth to England and originally filmed a video driving around Rowhedge to take back and show his partner, Barbara.

Now 65, Paul is permanently settled in Hillview Close, Rowhedge, with Barbara, and his videos are a source of great nostalgia.

Overall, they have gained more than 100,000 hits on YouTube.

The retired electrician said: "I was coming back to England and the Video8 camera had just come out.

"I bought one at duty free and it was a nice new toy to play with.

"I would drive around listening to Radio Caroline, long before it came off the air, and you can hear my Australian accent in the video too, which has worn off now.

"It's all very interesting to look at them now - Colchester has changed and in some ways it hasn't. The trees and hedges have grown."

He added: "People have commented to say they have spotted their father's car on the drive and things like that.

"The funny thing is I didn't do anything with them for 20 years until I transferred them from VHS onto DVD.

"I could show Barbara what Rowhedge was like but partly it was me being nostalgic and homesick. 

"They've now been seen in 139 countries."

Paul's YouTube page is here.