Two hurt in petrol station blast

The explosion happened at the Sainsbury's petrol station

Two people have been taken to hospital after an explosion at a supermarket petrol station.

Police, ambulance and the fire service were called to the petrol station shop at Sainsbury's in Cwmbran at 0645 BST on Thursday following the explosion.

Two workers at the store were opening up when they were thrown from the building by the blast.

Gwent Police said the cause of the explosion was gas and said the Health and Safety Executive had been informed.

A door was blown off the back of the petrol station in the blast

The two workers were treated by paramedics before being taken to Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital with minor injuries following the blast, which blew off the back doors of the building.

A cordon has been placed around the store and petrol station, which remain closed.

British Gas and Wales and West Utilities (WWU) were also called to the scene.

Gas engineers were inspecting pipes outside the petrol station

A spokeswoman for WWU said it was too early to speculate about the cause of the explosion.

Local car parks and the nearby Asda store were also closed following the incident, but have reopened.

Llewellyn Road will remain closed and diversions have been put in place.

Police said all other shops in the town centre remained open and local schools were unaffected.