A flood of insurance claims is expected following the biggest earthquake to hit the UK in nearly 25 years.

The tremor, measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale, struck just before 1am on Wednesday and was centred just north of Market Rasen in Lincolnshire.

British Geological Survey (BGS) seismologist Brian Baptie said it was "a significant earthquake for the UK".

Hundreds of homes and businesses were damaged, and insurers estimate they could end up paying out "tens of millions of pounds".

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) based its assessment on figures for a smaller earthquake in Folkestone, Kent, in April 2007 which resulted in claims totalling £15 million.

The only reported injury was to student David Bates, 19, who suffered a suspected broken pelvis when a chunk of masonry from a chimney stack crashed into his bedroom.

The keen amateur footballer was watching TV in bed at his home in Barnsley Road, Wombwell, South Yorkshire, when the earthquake struck.

He was taken to Barnsley Hospital and told staff he was worried about missing important Barnsley FC matches.

His father, Paul Bates said: "Of all the things that can happen - an earthquake.

"I could not believe it but, when I think about it, it could have been worse."

Market Rasen was largely unscathed although more than £10,000 of damage was caused to St Thomas's Church when a stone cross smashed to the ground.

The vicar, the Rev Michael Cartwright, said he was confident the medieval church was insured against "acts of God".

The sudden noise and shaking frightened many residents in the town.

Mother-of-two Eleanor Ramsey, 31, said: "I was scared to death. The whole house was shaking.

"It felt like a bomb had gone off. I woke up screaming and my son was screaming, so we got the children in bed with us.

"I have never been so scared in my life."

Pensioner Marie Milne added: "I nearly fell out of the bed. I was holding on to the sheets."

Other residents did not even feel the quake.

The worst-hit areas were around Lincolnshire and Humberside, but people as far away as Bristol and London also reported their homes suddenly shaking.

The BGS records around 200 earthquakes in the UK each year, some 25 of which can be felt by people.

Wednesday's tremor was the largest since 1984, when one measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale shook the Lleyn Peninsula of North Wales and was widely felt across England and Wales.

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