Homes near fatal Cleat Hill gas explosion site 'as safe as we can make them', insists Bedford mayor

A mayor has insisted houses close to the site of a gas explosion that killed two people are "as safe as we can make them" as families try to decide whether to return home for Christmas.

Paul Swales and Julia Harris, who were both in their 80s, died when a blast tore through a detached property back in October.

The explosion was caused by a natural gas leak and, after more gas was detected, more than 50 homes in the Cleat Hill area of Bedford had to be evacuated while the area was assessed.

Nine weeks on, families living there have been told they can return and have been provided with methane detection monitors to help reassure them.

Tom Wootton, mayor of Bedford, said while police and the Health and Safety Executive continued to investigate, a committee including police, the fire service, local council, HSE and gas safety experts had now deemed it safe.

"They have all judged it is safe to go back," he said. "We're paying for the monitors and all this sort of stuff. We think it's as safe as we can make it.

"I've heard many, many theories over the last eight or nine weeks. But we have a team of national experts - one of them was advising in America on the Deep Water Horizon explosion. We're very lucky in Britain to have that team of people. They're advising us."

Many people have moved back in but Christina Iacono, who lives with her husband and two daughters, is waiting for further reassurance.

Each homeowner is set to receive an individual risk assessment for their property - something Mrs Iacono has not yet had.

"They have told us it's safe to come home but I want to make sure it's the last time that we're going to move back and hopefully there will be no more in the future," she said.

"It's one thing to hear 'it's safe, it's safe, it's safe'.... but I think there's always going to be some element of concern. We've been through this for nine weeks. We've got the monitors in place to give us that bit of reassurance. The risk assessment will help but I think psychologically we just have to learn to live with how it's going to be."

It means the family still do not know where they will spend Christmas. Mrs Iacono said on previous trips back to collect belongings, the house "did not feel like a home".

She added: "The plan for Christmas this year still has a question over it. Do we come back just before Christmas or do we wait?

"The kids are set up, we've got a Christmas tree at the new place so who knows where Santa will come."

Knowing what caused the explosion and how it was able to happen may help residents feel safer. Concerns about a link to a previous gas leak, cause by underground drilling for a ground-source heat pump, remain.

In July, 13 properties were evacuated and residents were told to keep doors and windows shut, and work took place to cap the reservoir.

But Mr Wootton said the results of the ongoing investigations would not come soon. The destroyed house remains an active crime scene with police still on site.

"It's going to be a very long and detailed investigation. Two people have died," he said.

"The HSE are thorough. They may wind very slowly but they are very thorough. And I'm sure we will find out exactly who said what to who in July, who said it was safe and who signed it off."

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