Pensioner making tea is unharmed as house explodes around him

A pensioner had a miracle escape when a gas blast destroyed his home while he stood in the kitchen - and walked away unharmed.

Pensioner Jimmy Brown, 70, had just returned from a walk with his dog Bessie when he lit a gas ring to make a cup of tea - and his 500-year-old stone cottage exploded.



The spectacular blast on Monday demolished the entire front of his house, hurled masonry 50ft into the air and filled the street with rubble and glass.

But because Jimmy was at the epicentre of the explosion it hurled all the debris away from him and he suffered only minor injuries.