Villagers unite after explosion destroys bungalow

Neighbours have described how they came together to help after a suspected gas explosion destroyed a bungalow and left a man injured.

The man was taken to hospital after the explosion on Cobb Hall Road, Newton Longville, near Milton Keynes, in what Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service described as a suspected gas explosion on Sunday morning.

Gas distribution company SGN said people living nearby had been evacuated from their homes while engineers carried out safety checks in the area.

As emergency services responded, residents supported affected neighbours, with local pub, The Crooked Billet, becoming a hub for people who had been forced from their homes.

Ness Thornton-Kitchen, landlady of The Crooked Billet, said: "The pub is all about being the middle of the village and the middle of the community.

Those people that needed us and needed that help had somewhere safe to come."

Her daughter, Poppy Thornton-Kitchen, described the day as "surreal" and said she had woken up to an "overwhelming smell of gas and smoke" before her mother told her what had happened and they raced to open the pub.

The Crooked Billet opened to offer refreshments to people who could not return to their homes, and paramedics treated some people at the venue.

Councillors also arrived to meet locals and arrange emergency accommodation for those who could not return to their homes overnight.

The landlady said: "They've needed phones charging; asked us to contact their families to let them know where they are; anything they've needed, [we've helped].

"We just wanted to be the hub that says, 'Come here and we'll help you.'"

Graham Fuller lives in Cobb Hall Road and tried to help his neighbour after the incident took place.

He had already been awake when he heard "a massive explosion" and his wife began screaming elsewhere in the house.

Fuller, himself a gas engineer, was struck by the sheer scale of the destruction when he went outside, comparing it to "Armageddon".

He said: "I ran to the front of the house and I could see the opposite bungalow had completely gone.

"Debris everywhere, I ran out into the street and my neighbour had already managed to grab hold of the occupant of the property... He was badly burnt, in shock, and we were trying to treat him while all the chaos was going on."

He praised the emergency services but also the response of his neighbours.

"The community is sticking together like never before... We are a strong community and we're looking after each other," he said.

"We've been kicked out of our homes at the moment; we don't know when we're going back.

"It's possible some of us are going back and some of us aren't going back, but we'll wait to hear and see what happens."

Marc Betts, who also lives nearby, was moments away from leaving his house when the blast occurred.

"The great big bang can only be described as World War Three in the street," he said.

"Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemies, to be quite honest with you."

Due to the nature of his work, he carries fire extinguishers in his van which he used to try to tackle the fire before it grew in size.

He believes if he had left his house just two minutes earlier than he planned, he could have been caught in the blast.

He said: "I'm not fazed by things like that – I've witnessed and seen and been involved in a lot of it – and it shook me.

"It got to me, that did."

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