A woman has been rushed to hospital after an explosion and fire ripped through a house in Cheltenham.
Dramatic footage shows flames and smoke engulfing the property in the Springbank area of the town last night.
The home, which is believed to be a bungalow, was reduced to rubble and left in ruins.
Neighbouring homes had to be evacuated as fire and smoke filled the area.
Firefighters, police and ambulance crews attended the blaze with Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service (GFRS) reportedly still at the scene this morning.
Residents reported hearing an explosion and seeing flames. One local said: ‘Big explosion and fire with loads of blue lights near my house.’
Another added: ‘There was a house explosion on Springbank Way.’
A spokesman for the fire service said last night: ‘GFRS are in attendance at a building collapse at Springbank Way, Cheltenham.
‘We have a multiagency attendance with police, fire, and ambulance services plus specialist search and rescue teams from Avon FRS.
‘One female casualty has been treated on scene and taken to hospital, surrounding properties have been evacuated.
‘At present crews are carrying out search and rescue plus extinguishing pockets of fire and will remain on scene for some considerable time.’
A Gloucestershire Police spokesman said: ‘We had an emergency 999 call come through at 9.48pm alerting us to a fire in Springbank Way in Cheltenham.
‘Police attended as a grade one emergency response and police are still on the scene. We believe a bungalow is on fire and this is an evolving incident.’
People were urged last night to avoid the area with key roads nearby closed by police.
The A4013 Princess Elizabeth Way was closed in both directions from Coronation Square to A4019 Tewkesbury Road due to the incident.
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Olivia Christie
