Demolition begins after suspected gas blast

Demolition work is under way on two houses damaged in a suspected gas explosion.

Three people were taken to hospital with serious injuries following the blast on Hugh Street in Whitehaven, Cumbria, on 31 December.

Cumberland Council said work to knock down one property and partly demolish the one next door began on Tuesday.

People from 12 neighbouring households were able to return to their homes on Saturday.

The local authority said it had provided each property with a £100 supermarket voucher as a "goodwill gesture".

A meeting will be held this week for the remaining displaced residents with the council saying it continued to support households needing temporary accommodation.

A man and a woman in their 70s and a woman in her 50s were taken to hospital following the blast, which happened at about 16:25 GMT.

Neighbour Roxanne Stephenson described the scene as "absolute mayhem" with two houses having lost their roofs.

There had been "people in the street screaming and shouting" with "debris everywhere", she told the BBC.

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