A FAMILY had a lucky escape when lightning hit their home, causing thousands of pounds damage.

Penny Sharp was woken by a loud thud as the bolt hit near her bedroom, knocking out the electricity, during the weekend’s storms.

After waking her children Jamie, 15, and Shannon, 12, she opened the front door and discovered the extent of the damage.

Penny, 34, of River View Close, Laindon, said: “I thought it had bust one of the windows. It wasn’t until I opened the front door that I saw bricks all over the road.

It had thrown them quite far.

We were quite lucky.”

The house will need up to 30 bricks replacing and all the wiring checked.

A laptop and TV set were also ruined by the power surge, in the early hours of Saturday.