Family in hospital after gas blast

Transco cut off the gas supply to the house

Two children are in intensive care in hospital after a gas explosion at their family's home in Clitheroe, Lancashire, on Sunday morning.

Youngsters Steven and Andrew Marsden were taken to the Royal Preston Hospital after the blast at their home in Standen Road at 0930 BST.

The boys' parents, John and Lynn Marsden also suffered serious burns, but all four were said by police to be in a stable condition.

Transco, the police, and fire service were called to the scene as investigations into the cause of the explosion started.

'Structural damage'

Several nearby houses were evacuated, but residents were later allowed to return to their homes.

The boys, aged 9 and 6, are being treated at a specialist burns unit within the Preston hospital for treatment.

A Lancashire Police spokesman said all four family members had suffered between 25% and 40% burns.

He said: "The four occupants were able to get themselves out of the house before emergency services arrived.

"The house suffered serious structural damage. The Health and Safety Executive is also helping with the investigation."

Fire station officer for Clitheroe, Dave McGrath, said: "This was a severe explosion.

Engineers investigating

"The house suffered serious damage in the blast, more so on the ground floor than on the first floor.

"We are liaising with Transco gas authority to try and discover what caused the explosion."

A Transco spokesman said their engineers cut off the gas supply to the house, and that they were carrying out a thorough investigation.

They said: "The engineers could be there for some time - it is too early to speculate on the exact cause at this moment."