Two hurt in explosion

Nicki Walker

A west Norfolk man was last night recovering in intensive care after he was caught in an explosion in a shed in the back of a garden.

Gary Lockwood, 43, of Southery, suffered serious burns and a fractured arm following the incident.

A second man was also injured in the incident which happened late on Saturday night and was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for treatment for minor burns.

It is understood the pair had gone into the shed, which also contains a car inspection pit, after smelling petrol and the vapours were somehow ignited by a lit cigarette.

A fire service spokesman said this had caused the explosion, which was heard by a number of residents in the village.

Mr Lockwood was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn but was later transferred to the regional burns centre at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford where he remained last night.

The family of Mr Lockwood did not want to comment, but one relative said he was doing okay and that he had suffered 25pc burns as a result of the explosion, which had been an accident.

He had gone out to the shed to investigate the smell of petrol. The shed was almost completely destroyed in the explosion and it had been ripped apart as a result.

One neighbour said: “We didn't see a fire, but we were woken from our sleep by a loud bang, then when we looked out the windows we then saw the fire engines in the road.”

Another resident said that a number of villagers had heard the explosion in the night and wondered what had happened.

A fire investigation was carried out, but no further action will be taken as the cause of the fire is now known.

Firefighters from Downham and Methwold attended the incident at around 11.44pm and the fire was under control by 12.20am.

An ambulance and paramedic were at the scene and they took the two men to hospital.