CONFUSED residents are searching for answers about why a lightning bolt had such a dramatic impact on a York housing estate.

Lightning struck houses in the St Benedict Road estate, near Nunnery Lane, York, on Sunday morning. The storm damaged many residents' electrical appliances, including televisions and computers.

Keith Chapman, 56, of St Custance Walk, said appliances had blown in houses throughout the St Benedict Road estate - and some of the damaged appliances had not even been plugged in at the time of the storm.

He said a CB radio and a scanner had been damaged in his house even though they were not plugged in, and his home is some distance from where the lightning struck.

He said: "We really want some answers about this phenomenon. "How can lightning affect equipment in so many houses?"

He said the damage caused by the storm would cost residents a lot of money.

Mr Chapman said: "It has come as a shock to a lot of people. We are a small community and low to the ground so we weren't expecting something like this."

Updated: 08:41 Friday, June 27, 2003