The houses in Fulston Place, Sittingbourne, affected by the by lightning strike

by Hayley Robinson and Stephen Waite

A house was set on fire after a lightning bolt smashed through a bedroom window.

Residents in Fulston Place, Sittingbourne, were left terrified following the strike last night.

Witnesses said they saw the lightning hit the ground and bounce up before travelling across two roofs.

It then crashed into the property of an elderly man, Ronnie Page, who was out at the time.

Two teams of firefighters wearing breathing apparatus broke through the front door to put out the blaze.

A bedroom was severely damaged by fire and smoke, but luckily no one was injured.

Bedding, a bed base, skirting and the curtains had been alight.

Crew manager Kevin Ford said they were called at 8.35pm and were there for about two hours.

The householder returned while they were there and "was quite calm about it".

Brian Jarrett, 53, was at home with his partner Caren Smith when lightning struck.

He said: "I was making a drink. The next thing there was a big bang and the lights went out. I went to check the fuses then I saw people running around outside then someone said ‘it’s hit one of the houses’."

Sophie Jones, of Watling Place, which backs onto Fulston Place, said: "I jumped out of my seat and got straight on the phone.

"It was frightening; I’ve never seen lightning do that before."

Another resident, who asked not to be named, described hearing a ripping sound moments before the aerial in her back bedroom was blown off the wall.

Her boiler was also knocked out during the storm.

She said: "I had the windows open looking at the storm then the clouds got really black. It was just getting darker and darker. I thought they’ll be some lightening in a minute and didn’t think anything of it.

"I had just put my 16-month old granddaughter Tifa to bed when the dog made a funny noise, a real deep grumble - then all hell broke loose.

"I cannot describe the noise. It sounded like a bomb going off. It was so loud it made my ears go funny.

"I never want to hear that sound again. It was like the noise came before the lightning. The dog tried to get out the front door my granddaughter was screaming and the smoke alarms were going off.

"I didn’t know what had happened, I knew something had but what I wasn’t sure until the people from Watling Place came knocking on my door saying the ‘house is on fire’ because they’d seen smoke and flames coming out the back."

"i cannot describe the noise. it sounded like a bomb going off. it was so loud it made my ears go funny…” – witness

Both fire engines from Sittingbourne went to the scene as did the Red Cross vehicle, in case residents needed re-homing.

Fire crew manager Kevin Ford said: "There were a lot of witnesses saying they saw lightning strike the ground, bounce up and go along a couple of roofs.

"Some of them went to check their properties and it was then that they saw smoke coming out of the rear of the house.

"It was a hell of a clap. I heard it and I was indoors."

Meanwhile, a substation in Edenbridge flooded lastnight.

Fire crews were called at about 7.25pm and were at the scene until almost 1am.

It comes as three flood alerts remain in place for Kent this morning and forecasters say we will get more rain later.