A Braintree man today told how a bolt came quite literally out of the blue when lightning struck his top floor flat.
The strike came as a double shock as thundery skies had begun to clear.
A "huge bang" sounded and the building shook when lightning hit the roof top of Mountbatten Court on Sunday morning
Huge bang - Clare and Andy Pack, of Braintree, whose home was struck by lightning
Bus driver Andy Pack, who was alone in the flat at the time, said he thought something had blown up in the car park.
The strike took off some tiles and pointing at the roof line, making a small hole in the roof.
Mr Pack, 33, said: "There was a huge bang. To be perfectly honest it sounded as though something had blown up in the car park."
When he came back in there was also a trace of smoke and an electrical burning smell and thinking there may have been a fire in the loft, he called the fire service.
The lightning caused an 8ft crack in the inside wall of the loft from the roof down. Lumps of the breeze block wall were blown 16ft across the loft.
Published Tuesday August 20, 2002
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