School remains shut after lightning storm hits town

A school that was damaged during a lightning storm has said it will remain closed while safety work takes place.

Brownlow Primary School, in Limes Avenue, Melton Mowbray, confirmed it will be closed until Wednesday morning while work is carried out on its fire alarm system.

The school was damaged during Thursday's overnight storm, which saw lightning set fire to two nearby homes.

Local businesses have said they are still getting back to normal after the storm disrupted their internet service.

In a post on its website, the school confirmed it will remain closed on Tuesday while the "issue is resolved and safety checks are completed".

"We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience during this time," the post said.

"Further updates will be shared as soon as possible."

Two streets away from the school, a lightning strike set fire to the roof of a house shortly before 05:00 BST on Thursday.

Nobody was injured in the blaze in Bayswater Close, which followed another fire at a nearby bungalow.

Meanwhile businesses in the area are still trying to get back on track following the storm.

Sue Bhatia, who works at Kings Road Flooring, sad the business "had to go the old fashioned way" after the storm caused their internet to fail.

"For the first day or so afterwards we didn't have any internet which is a big part of our business," she said.

"All the businesses that are on this little estate were affected in one way or another because of the storm.

"We've just had to improvise and do our best really.

"I hope that everybody's getting themselves sorted, but obviously we've still got the aftermath of electricians coming and trying to sort things out."

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