Lightning-hit tree wrecks homes

Jane Moseley's roof was damaged by the tree

Windows were broken and roofs were destroyed when a large pine tree was struck by lightning in Berkshire.

Ten houses in Dene Close, Bracknell, were damaged when chunks of the tree flew through the air.

One resident, Jane Mosley, who was in her living room at the time, said she and her children felt a shock, and her house was left without power.

Fire crews closed off the street after the lighting hit on Wednesday morning. No one was injured by the debris.

A large part of the tree fell on Ms Mosley's Georgian-style house, causing damage to the roof which she said sounded like "a bomb going off".

'Tingling all over'

She told BBC News: "I decided to get up off the sofa and get a cup of tea. All of a sudden there was this blinding flash of light which physically threw me back into the sofa.

Fire crews closed off the street to secure the 10 homes

"Then I felt this tingling all over my body and these logs - they are logs, they weren't branches - came crashing down on the house and the patio.

"We've probably got a quarter of our roof missing, it's come down through the side access of our house as well.

"But we got off lightly - some people had their kitchens and bedrooms taken out."

A spokeswoman for Berkshire Fire Service said crews worked until late afternoon to make all 10 homes safe.