"WE were in the sitting room and then suddenly there was a bang and a smell of burning."

Those were the words of a York mother, as she told of the dramatic moment when her street was struck by lightning.

Fiona Kent, 46, watched in horror as a computer modem socket blew apart and flew past her son's head during the incident.

Fiona and her son, Sasan, who was ten yesterday, were at home in Heath Croft, off Heslington Lane, when the lightning struck. They immediately grabbed a fire extinguisher to be safe.

Today, they and their neighbours were still waiting for vital repairs to be carried out, after the lightning bolt knocked out televisions, computers and telephones all over the street.

Fiona said Sasan had narrowly avoided being hit when a modem socket was hit by the power surge.

She said today: "It blew apart and half of it went straight past my son's head. The lights did not go but the computer and TV did."

"The storm was right overhead, and we got hit. It hit a telegraph pole and we got it badly, and lost the TV.

"Nearly all of us in the street were affected. One of my neighbours walked in and he said he could smell smoke coming out of one of his sockets."

The lightning strike occurred during the heavy storms which swept across the region last Thursday, and knocked out several of Fiona's appliances.

She said: "I am waiting for a TV to be delivered and my laptop to be replaced. The message in the story is get some of those power deflectors fitted.' "It was so sudden, and the storm seemed to be overhead straight away.

"We were connected, and did not automatically turn everything off.

"People lost computers, TVs, videos, digital boxes etc."

Fiona said residents immediately rushed into the street to check everyone was okay.

She said: "We have a very close community and live in a cul-de-sac and everyone was wanting information."

Fiona was yesterday still waiting for her telephone to be reconnected, and she said she had also lost important documents when her laptop was damaged.

She said: "It's caused so much inconvenience. I have lost my work. It's completely fried the hard disk."

Fiona said that even people whose computers had not been switched on had suffered damage.