Man blows up house while cleaning

An interior wall was badly damaged by the blast

A pensioner who used petrol to clean glue off his kitchen floor blew up his semi-detached house.

Ronald Cox escaped virtually unscathed from the explosion which ripped through his Scunthorpe home, bringing down part of the kitchen ceiling.

Mr Cox, 75, had been removing floor tiles and, after trying unsuccessfully with cleaning products, tried to remove glue using an eggcup full of petrol.

The fuel gave off vapours which were set on fire by a boiler pilot light.

The explosion blew out a front bay window and caused structural damage to an inside wall.

Mr Cox was given oxygen at the scene before being taken to hospital as a precaution.

Group manager for Humberside Fire and Rescue Stuart Spence said Mr Cox was lucky to escape the blast uninjured and warned people not to use fuel in the house.

He said: "The place for petrol is in motor vehicles."