A Southampton man had a lucky escape on Christmas Eve when a lightning bolt hit his chimney bringing blocks of rubble crashing to the ground outside his house.

The man, who asked not to be named, said he was at home on his own at about 2pm when he heard a “loud crack”.

He said: “It was so loud I thought it must be close by – a close hit. I ran through the house and when I came to kitchen door I saw chunks of rubble outside on the ground.

“If anyone had been out there it could have injured them. I saw that the chimney was shattered – it blew away a good portion of the chimney.”

When he went to the laundry room he saw smoke and the lights were flickering so he called the fire department as well as Belco. One Communications was also in the area checking residents’ internet.

The man said: “I had all three of them check the property. The fire department didn’t see anything on fire. They picked up some tarpaulin and put it over what was left of the chimney to keep rain from coming down the chimney into the house.

“I had turned the meters off just in case. Belco checked the meters and loads and everything seemed to be fine so they turned them back on.

“One Communications came to the house and checked my internet system from the outside. Everything was OK.”

There was no damage inside the house and a call to the insurance company confirmed the damage to the chimney would be covered.

The homeowner, who lives in the house with his wife, added: “It was a bit of a downer but we didn’t allow it to ruin out Christmas. Christmas is a time we appreciate getting together with family, eating, talking – we enjoyed ourselves, we had fun.”