Lightning man's trousers ruined

A man whose house was struck by lightning jumped out of bed to find that his trousers had been hit too.

The trousers were damaged along with electrical circuits which carried the lightning round the house on Princess Avenue in Plymouth, Devon.

The lightning struck early on Sunday, hitting the roof of Joss Jones's house.

Mr Jones said: "There was a bang and I was scrabbling round for clothes and picked up some trousers, but I couldn't put them on as they had been hit too."

Mr Jones and his wife Gerry have been left without gas or electricity, but said they were thankful to be alive.

Mrs Jones said: "It was a deep kind of smoke. I am asthmatic and it still affects me now."