A LIGHTNING strike caused thousands of pounds of damage to a church.

One of the four turrets on the tower roof was struck, sending large stone fragments plumm-eting towards the building and ground below at around 7.15am on Tuesday.

Some of the structure fell through St Andrew’s Church roof and also onto the playground of St Andrew’s Primary School, which has now finished for the summer holidays.

There were no injuries, but the church, on Bolton Road West in Ramsbottom, is expected to be closed for the foreseeable future.

Rev Andy Lindop said: “No-one was hurt and that is the main thing.

“It happened at a time when there was no-one around.

“We feel incredibly fortunate that no-one was injured and that there were no children playing in the playground.

“Bits of stone were scattered around and large lumps have gone through the church roof.

“Extensive damage has been caused.

“But the church is the people and not the building. The life of the church will carry on whether the building is there or not.

“It's so unsafe I don’t think anyone has been able to assess the damage properly yet.”

Pictures and video footage of the aftermath show a huge hole in the roof with daylight pouring in and destruction inside.

Large lumps of concrete were scattered on to the road and pavement.

Steve Openshaw, an assistant curate at the church and resident of nearby Carrwood Hey said: “It looks like it has exploded. There are big pieces of stone that have gone metres away.

“The church is going to be closed for a substantial amount of time while they get it sorted out.”