Mrs Johnson took Samuel out of his cot two hours before the strike

Five-month-old Samuel Johnson had fortunately been taken out of his cot earlier in the night and was asleep in his parent's bedroom at the time.

His was one of six houses in the street in Fazakerley that were hit during the storm by the lightning, which typically carries about 1.5m volts of electricity.

The roof of the house next door in Longdown Road was also seriously damaged by the lightning, showering a woman with ceiling plaster as she slept.

Gas and electricity supplies were cut-off in up to 20 homes in the street during the strike.

'Lucky escape'

Graham Johnson said he and his wife, Irene, heard a loud bang and then saw a large hole in the wall next to Samuel's cot.

"Luckily enough, the baby woke up, so I put him back into bed with us," Mrs Johnson told BBC North West Tonight.

"Then two hours later, that's when the lightning struck, so thank god he wasn't in his cot, otherwise he would have been hit by all the plaster off the wall."

A woman escaped uninjured when this ceiling collapsed

The lightning initially struck the TV aerial on the roof of the Johnson's house, before travelling through a cable, down a gutter and in to the house.

Their neighbour, whose roof was damaged, escaped uninjured, but the strike caused extensive damage to ceilings throughtout the house.

One resident in the street, Richie Higham, said a huge bang woke him up.

"It was the loudest thing I've ever heard," he said. "I wouldn't want to hear it again, it was far too close for comfort."

The strike happened at about 0655 BST and fire crews could hear it from their station four miles away.

Engineers worked throughout Monday to restore power and gas supplies to homes in the street.