I have a Blackberry curve. When its plugged into the charger the red light comes and then after a few seconds the screen lights up and something that looks like a lightning bolt comes on to the screen. The phone will not switch on whether being charged or not.

I really can't explain why it decided to do that after it was charging, but I believe that your phone is 'bricked'.
There's an excellent guide that even I use in case I have issues with my BlackBerry.
Follow the directions in the guide to, hopefully, alleviate your issue.
http://crackberry.com/blackberry-101-lecture-12-how-reload-operating-system-nuked-blackberry?page=8

try this:

JUMP STARTING A BLACKBERRY


1. Plug wall charger into wall and then plug into blackberry
2. Take off back cover and pull the battery out (while it is plugged in still)
3. Wait 30 seconds. The red LED may remain on (tech said it didn't matter).
4. Put the battery back in and wait about 5-10 seconds and it'll begin to boot up (white screen with clock icon).

Ok...don't panic. The charger you are using is not compatible. Verizon only works with verizon blackberry's. Non verizon will not work with blackberry and vice versa. This is what will happen. you plug it in and it will boot for a few seconds and then the lightning bolt you see is the charge icon and then a red line in it means that charger is not compatable. Blackberry does make its own charger but there is a "pin" on the plug in that will tell it it is not the right one. Am I confusing you?

try a different battery

with the red lcd light blinking it means there is a software issue try syncing it with your blackberry desktop manager the application loader if that doesnt work u will need to contact you service provider for replacement options

remove battery then replace and try again. Hold down button for a few seconds.

Hi!... I suggest you have to see a technician with these problem. Most modern phones especially with problems like these needs software reformatting.

Try removing your battery and replacing it in the phone.
if you don;t get any results, buy a new battery.
As long as you haven;t dropped the phone or got it wet. Replacing the battery should handle your problem.
you can also try a different charger before you go to the battery.

Good Luck

I have a brand new blackberry put it on charge and there is no red light at all indicating its charging is that a faulty charger or phone?

ok so what u basically do is just keep the charger in the usb port. then take the battery out then plug it back in. this totally works!