An investigation into the cause of a massive gas explosion that ripped through a village home and left a mother and daughter with burns has been put on hold until the ruined property is declared safe to enter.

A spokesman for gas network operator National Grid said their investigator may have to wait until Tuesday for a structural engineer to have carried out checks at the semi in Chapel Road, Wrentham, near Southwold.

'We have carried out tests on the mains in the area checking for possible escaping gas and the next thing we must do is test the service to the property and the meter,' she said.

Two days after the explosion on Christmas Eve that demolished the upstairs of the house, villagers were still stopping and chatting outside, visibly stunned by the devastation.

Maralyn Thurtle, of Oak Hill Close, Wrentham, said: 'It's the first time I have walked by and seen the damage. I can't believe they got out alive.

'This is a very, very close village and everyone is in shock.'

A female neighbour who ushered mother Lynne, 50, and daughter Lucy Brown, 20, to safety following the blast at 7.30am was yesterday too upset to recount her ordeal to the EDP.

The mother was flown to Norfolk and Norwich University by air ambulance but later transferred to the specialist burns unit at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford where she was today described as 'comfortable'.. Her daughter was taken by land ambulance to the same hospital but discharged over Christmas.