Demolition date for home left unstable after gas explosion

A Blackpool house wrecked in a suspected gas explosion is set for demolition next week.
Aftermath of gas explosion at a property on Charles StreetAftermath of gas explosion at a property on Charles Street
Aftermath of gas explosion at a property on Charles Street

The three-storey former guest house, at 21 Charles Street, will be brought down slowly, over the course of around four weeks.

Traffic restrictions will be put in place, a public notice posted by the council showed, while pedestrians also face being banned from the area around the house as a safety measure.

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Work is set to start mid-week, with motorists diverted along Cookson, George, and Grosvenor Street, or Grosvenor, Church, and Cookson Street.

The explosion left 72-year-old Pauline Citterio in a coma with serious injuries, and displaced a number of people, including Pauline’s partner Martin Viney, 70, and their lodger Nigel Thomas, 64.

Tony Wheeler, 28, who lived in a flat next door, spent an hour pinned to his couch by a falling roof joist and escaped without major injury.

He told of his lucky escape after being rescued by firefighters, who dug Ms Citterio out by hand.

The pensioner’s parrot was killed in the blast.

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