Lightning strikes pensioner's house (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Lightning strikes pensioner's house

LIGHTNING struck the home of an 87-year-old pensioner during violent storms which swept through west Wiltshire on Wednesday.

The bolt tore into the roof of Evelyn Harris' house in Gainsborough Rise, Trowbridge.

Tiles were knocked of the roof and damaged Mrs Harris' new patio set.

She said: "I heard a hell of a bang and saw all this debris falling outside.

"I was very shocked and about six neighbours came round to see if I was okay.

"I was frightened because I was upstairs in the room just below where it hit.

"I heard people knocking on the door and I was on my own. While I was scrabbling around trying to find the key I fell over but landed on the carpet so I was alright. It was all a bit much for me.

"I have been tidying up today and just hope the electricity will come back on soon."

Police, fire and ambulance crews rushed to the scene and found Mrs Harris shaken but unhurt.

Fire crews patched up the hole in the roof with tarpaulin and builders were due to fix it yesterday.

The electricity went off and the frightened pensioner stayed at her son David's house in Dilton Marsh.

He said: "She was a bit bewildered but okay.

"She came to stay at my house because we were worried the water could get through the hole in the roof and there was no power."

During the storm a power blip caused the computer server at West Wiltshire District Council to go down. It was fixed yesterday morning.