Hardwick school roof damaged in lightning strike

The school building was struck by lightning during a "complete deluge"

Safety officers are assessing damage to a primary school after it was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm.

A gable end at Hardwick Community Primary School, in Cambridgeshire was hit "during a complete deluge" at 10:45 BST.

Roofing contractors were on site at the time as well as a number of members of staff, but no-one was injured.

School caretaker Ali Berkeley described the thunderclap as the loudest she had ever heard.

A Cambridgeshire County Council spokeswoman said the damage would not affect its planned reopening in September.

The public are being asked to "keep their distance" while structural checks at the Limes Road school continue.

The lightning strike came as the region was battered by heavy, sudden rain storms after a prolonged period of high temperatures, exceeding 30C (86F) for several days.

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Mrs Berkeley, who has worked there for 19 years, said she was in the school office at the time of the strike.

"I caught a flash of white light out of the corner of my eye and there was a humungous clap of thunder - the loudest I think I've ever heard," she said.

"I thought the houses opposite the school had been hit."

Debris has been strewn across the school playground

She said the school was currently having a flat roof added, and that workers on site had come indoors to get out of the rain.

The lightning struck the gable end of the school's year five and six classroom, she added.

The council spokeswoman said the strike had dislodged roof tiles, and described the damage as "not considerable".