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A LIGHTNING strike destroyed a home in Taplow in the early hours of Wednesday morning and damaged a home in Maidenhead.

Firefighters from Maidenhead were called to the detached two storey house in Conway Road at 1am Wednesday where they found a scene of devastation.

Firefighter Alex Stevenson said: "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 rooms and starting as fire in the garage. The damage was very severe."

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

Firefighters have praised the man who lived in the house for his calmness.

At 2.30am they were called out again to a house in Heywood Avenue, Maidenhead where lightning had struck the chimney, damaging the roof and disrupting the gas main.