Windows smash after lorry blowout

The noise from the blowout "shook" the town

The shockwaves from a lorry tyre bursting resulted in several windows being blown out in a town.

About 25 panes were smashed in flats and an office building in Rhayader shortly after 0700 GMT on Monday.

Resident Sandra Betty described how homes "shook", and how some people feared the noise was a bomb exploding.

The blowout resulted in a small fire underneath the articulated truck, said Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

Mrs Betty said: " A lorry's tyre burst on the narrow part of south Street - the main A470 trunk road through Rhayader - and blew out 25 panes of glass in the flats at Bryniago and the small office building in the grounds of Greenfield House.

"Residents in South Street were very shaken and worried and, of course, it was very frightening for those whose windows shattered in the flats in Bryniago.

"The whole town also felt the rumble and explosion and some were worried it was a bomb. Our cottages shook as we are just off South Street and the blast travelled down the lane. I thought it was a gas explosion."

The fire service confirmed some windows had smashed as a result of the blowout.