RESIDENTS told how a thunder-bolt “as loud as a bomb” caused havoc.

Some properties in Wythefield, Pitsea, were without TVs or phones for days following the lightning strike.

It is thought the chaos was caused when a billion volts of lightning hit a tree on the estate.

It then surged through an underground communications cable and into homes.

Pensioner Michael Flemming, of Buckerill, said the strike knocked off part of his metal guttering and blew the phone box off the wall, leaving him without a phone for hours.

Gary Griffin, also of Buckerill, who lives opposite the tree, said the bang was “a real frightener”.

He said: “It blew my television receiver and I have only just got the TV back on five days later.

“It’s unreal. I could never get Freeview before, but now I’ve the best picture ever.”

A spokeman for Virgin Media said: “There was a localised power surge following a storm in the area, which may have affected equipment in some customers’ homes, but we have now got everyone back online.”

The Met Office said the lightning strike, last Thursday, would have struck the tree at around 270,000 miles per hour.