Cracked gas main blamed for house explosion that killed Ramsbottom hospice worker

Video report by ITV Correspondent by Tim Scott.

An inquest has heard that a fractured gas main led to an explosion which killed a woman from Ramsbottom in her own home.

Hazel Wilcock, who worked as a counsellor at St Ann's Hospice, was on Facetime with her partner when an explosion ripped through her home in Summerseat on 17 February 2021.

Her mid-terraced property was reduced to rubble following the blast, and two of the neighboring houses were damaged.

The 61-year-old's body was discovered by fire crews at 3am the next morning as they conducted a search of the wreckage.

Her cause of death was recorded as traumatic asphyxia.

An inquest was held at Rochdale Coroner's Court on Thursday (19 August).

Engineer Steven Critchlow, from the Health and Safety Executive, said gas had likely travelled through the soil and into Ms Wilcock's cellar 35 metres away, and was ignited by a freezer or washing machine.

Mr Critchlow said: "We have been able to rule out every cause other than a failed gas main at the bottom of the road.

"We know that gas was permeating through the soil from that failed gas main and we know that gas had got into the cellars of properties so my conclusion is that this is an incident caused by the failure of a cast iron main."

HSE inspector Ian Redshaw said the fractured pipe was located by gas company Cadent after the explosion.

He said cast iron pipes in the gas network were being replaced as part of a 30-year programme across the country, which began in 2002, but the main in this case had not been scored as a high priority for replacement.

He said: "Cast iron is a very strong material but it is a brittle material as well and there have been and continue to be a number of failures of cast iron pipes within the gas networks."

Detective Inspector Alison Witkiewicz told the inquest she had considered whether any criminal offences had been committed but there was nothing that met the threshold for a prosecution.

Senior coroner for Manchester North Joanne Kearsley recorded a conclusion of accidental death.

Addressing a number of Hazel's friends and relatives who had attended the hearing, she said: "She sounds like, both professionally and personally, quite a remarkable lady." 

Her brother Graham Wilcock, 70, said he heard the explosion from his apartment, about 100 metres away, and when he was unable to contact his sister he went out towards her house on East View.

Mr Wilcock, who thanked the emergency services for their response, said: "I just still can't believe it has happened and I miss her, I miss her terribly."