The authorities are still trying to determine the cause of Tuesday morning's gas explosion in Irlam, Manchester, which demolished four houses and damaged many more. It is understood that the explosion occurred when 76-year old Marie Burns switched on her gas cooker to prepare her breakfast porridge.

Tim Doyle, Chief Executive of City West Housing Trust, which owns the homes, has confirmed that: "Major works to Marie's property on Merlin Road were underway prior to the explosion and this included work to the kitchen of the property that appears to be involved in the explosion. Our contractors are conducting their own internal investigations and they and we will work with the relevant authorities to establish the cause of the explosion."

Other properties on the estate are being gas checked one-by-one.

As the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt and I feel we become so used to our boilers and switching on our gas hobs and fires that we forget how dangerous gas can actually be. Thank goodness we have procedures in place to ensure that incidents such as this one are few and far between - and while being suddenly made homeless is dreadful, (particularly in the lead-up to Christmas and when the weather isn't good!)  thank goodness that no-one was killed...

Yours,



Jan Hobbs