Lightning causes house blaze

A dramatic picture taken by an Observer reader shows fire crews surveying the damage after the strike.

Nobody was in at the Dorset Road property, but the bolt caused extensive damage to the roof of the building and created a serious fire in an upstairs kitchen.

Firefighters from Bexhill and Hastings quickly tackled the blaze and spent over three hours ensuring no further harm came to the roof by fitting protective sheeting.

There is thought to be no long-term structural risk to the building.

A spokesman for the family said they were too upset to talk about the fire.

The incident led to long tailbacks on nearby De La Warr Road, as police closed off the area for around three and a half hours and diverted traffic to allow firecrews to work. The storm also caused a nearby water main to burst.

Residents Scott Pritty and James Turner noticed the fire after hearing what they described as an "explosion."

Scott, said: "We were standing in James' house, in Magdalen Road, and this huge bright flash went across the sky. There was an enormous bang. We went into the road and saw the smoke.

"We followed it up to here and noticed this huge hole in the roof and the front room of the house was just full of smoke."