Thousands raised to help families after homes destroyed in lightning strike

Thousands of pounds have been raised so far to help two families after their homes were destroyed in Andover following a lightning strike.

On Saturday morning (24 July) the roofs of houses in Mercia Avenue collapsed after fire spread between the properties.

Smoke and flames were captured coming from the top of the building.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service said firefighters were called to the property at 4.37am when the roof caught fire.

A 70-year-old woman was assessed by paramedics at the scene and was not taken to hospital.

There were also animals in the properties at the time of the incident, the fire service said.

Now a local neighbour has created a fundraising page to help 'kick start them getting their lives back on track'.

On the page, Tayla Moody wrote: "It has affected the whole neighbourhood and it is a truly devastating thing for someone to have to watch their home burn and not be able to do anything about it, it turns somewhere that holds so many memories into somewhere they don’t even want to think about.

"I’d like to help these two families and raise some money, they have lost their homes and are going to need all the love and support they can get, which people have shown and it has been wonderful to see so many people come together in such a crisis.