A PENSIONER today escaped serious injury after a gas blast ripped through his home.

The 70-year-old man was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary with injuries including burns to his hands after the explosion in the kitchen of his home, in St James' Road, Bastwell, Blackburn, at 8am.

Neighbours said a man called Bill Riley lived at the address. An elderly woman friend who was at the house was also taken to hospital for a check-up. Police said she was uninjured but shocked.

Sgt Paul Ryan said: "The man has burns to his hands and hair. He lives on his own but has a friend, an elderly lady, who visits him. She has also gone to hospital for a check-up.

"Early indications are that there was a gas explosion in the kitchen area, possibly the cooker. The explosion has caused some structural damage to the rear and blew part of the front window out. But the building is not unsafe.

"The fire brigade will carry out an investigation. There are no suspicious circumstances at the moment."

Next door neighbour Ronald Anderson said: "I heard a bang this morning and that was it.

"It was a loud bang, which I thought was unusual. And I thought I could smell a bit of smoke.

"I thought it must be the work that's going on at the college behind us.

"But then I looked out the front window and saw the fire brigade arriving. It all happened very quickly. There's no damage to my house." A Transco gas spokeswoman said: "We're thoroughly checking the internal and external pipework.

"A cooker gas tap was left on but unignited, meaning gas has built up.

"The owner has somehow triggered it, perhaps by lighting a match or switching on a light.

"The gas will be turned off at the meter and we'd recommend the owner gets a Corgi-registered gas engineer to check the appliance. The force of the explosion may have damaged the cooker or pipes."

A Transco worker at the scene said gas can build-up within just two minutes.

Structural engineers from Blackburn with Darwen Council were today assessing the damage to the property.