A retired Windsor schoolteacher has described the terrifying moment when he was woken by a lightning strike that wrecked his home.

John Fry, 69, of Conway Road, Taplow, was asleep in bed at 1am on Wednesday morning.

He said: "I was woken by a loud bang and the room was full of smoke.

"I have always liked looking out of the window at thunderstorms but I did not expect this. I went down in my bare feet and everything was covered with debris."

The lightning had gone straight through the roof and both floors of the house via all the sockets and fuse box, leaving a big hole in all the ceilings, scattering debris everywhere and starting a blaze in the garage.

Two fire crews used two breathing apparatus to battle the fire and isolate the gas supply.

Mr Fry, who was a teacher at the old Haymill School, said: "The neighbours were wonderful. They all turned out to help, it was like a street party.

"Everyone has been supportive. The hotel I went to would not let me pay when I told them why I needed emergency accommodation - I thought they would not believe me but she just said 'oh you poor man'."

He now faces a six months wait before he will able to return to his damaged house.

He said: "The floors, the ceilings and the roof are all in ruined. The strike was only about six feet away from me so I'm lucky - I'm just glad my 11 year old grandson was not staying with me, he could have been badly hurt."

Firefighters were also called to a house in Heywood Avenue, Maidenhead at 2.30am the same night when lightning struck the chimney causing fire in the roof.