IN JANUARY 1991, residents living on Rockliffe Street in Blackburn were settling down to watch TV when two major explosions rocked the whole street.

A massive build-up of gas led to at least two explosions which almost completely destroyed two of the mid terraced houses.

The front door of one of them was ripped off its hinges and blown clean across the street while at the rear of the properties walls were reduced to rubble and the kitchens blown apart.

Windows were blown out of several houses and ridge tiles were disturbed.

Several hours before the blast, contractors working for North West Water reported damaging a gas main as they fitted new plastic pipes inside an old cast iron water main. A team of British Gas engineers was working to repair the leak when the explosion occurred.

Experts from the Health and Safety Executive were called in and builders were hard at work shoring up the most badly affected properties.

Following the blast six ambulances, three fire crews and numerous police officers raced to the scene and around 80 homes in the vicinity were evacuated with many residents being treated for shock.

Three elderly people were taken to hospital after they lost their homes and many of their possession in the explosion

Initially the grocery shop at the corner of Robert Street and Rockliffe Street was used as a base to treat those in shock.

Nearby Ewood Community Centre soon became the base for those asked to leave their homes with many spending the night there.

Police sealed off the area and electricity supplies to a number of streets was cut off for fear of sparking further explosions.