Police investigating after reports of a 'big explosion' outside Cardiff shop

  • Police at the scene on Countisbury Avenue in Llanrumney, Cardiff

A police investigation is underway after reports of an explosion outside a Cardiff Co-op store.South Wales Police says it is investigating a burglary at the store in Countisbury Avenue in Llanrumney at around 4am on Friday.

The road was closed off by police after reports of a 'big explosion.'

It's believed that the suspects used acetylene cylinders to gain access to the shop and cash machine resulting in a loud explosion and causing significant damage.A large police cordon is in place and debris has been strewn across the road.

Witnesses have reported hearing a "big explosion" in the area in the early hours of Friday morning.It's reported that a car was on fire and police and firefighters were at the scene.Residents in the flats above the store were evacuated for more than two hours as a precaution while the cylinders were made safe by the fire service.

Hannah May who lives in the adjacent flats with her children aged 14 and seven said: "It felt like a bomb went off. My house shook. I couldn’t sleep and was just about to go to sleep and suddenly there was bang."I looked out of my window and saw the car on fire. They’ve tried to ram-raid it a few times in the three years since I’ve been here but nothing like this."It did scare me a bit to be honest with you, I thought the world was ending. I shouted to the kids and they jumped out of bed. It was madness."The store has been targeted by ramraiders in the past.Police said there were no reported injuries and the road remains closed as investigations continue.

South Wales Police has issued a statement saying officers are investigating a burglary at the Co-op store in Countisbury Avenue, Cardiff, which happened at around 4am this morning.It is believed that suspects used acetylene cylinders to gain access to the shop and cash machine resulting in a loud explosion and causing significant damage.A number of flats above the shops were evacuated as a precaution while the cylinders were made safe by the fire service.A spokeswoman said: "A nearby bakers provided displaced residents with shelter and warm drinks while they waited to return to their homes."There are no reported injuries, the road remains closed and enquiries are on-going."

People living in the flats above the shop were evacuated for more than two hours between 4am and 6.30am.Jazmin Reah who lives in a flat above the explosion with her children aged six and three, said: "At about 3.50 this morning we heard a big bang. I phoned my friend who lives in the flat directly above it. We actually heard people too but we don’t know."She told me to come down because we were all in a panic. Police then came about 4.10am and told us we all had to leave because they were worried that the gas cannisters could go off again."We got put in the riot vans and taken to Greggs. I’m still in shock to be honest with you.

"I haven’t registered what has happened. We’ve only been living here about six months and this is the first time this has happened."I was more worried than the children were. They’ve done really well in the situation.

Liam Hart, who lives nearby, said he heard an explosion around 4am."We thought a car had crashed into a tree or something like that," he said. "There’s a lot of joyriders around here and we’ve had it recently."This has happened so many times since we’ve lived up here. If they’re not going for the cash machine they’re going for what’s inside the shop."It’s not fair for the people in the community to have their lives changed because of some ruthless idiots in the community."It’s affecting the community, it’s affecting the business it’s bad enough already with covid going on. It’s awful."Local Labour councillors in the area say they have been told that an attempt was made to steal the cash machine from outside the Co-op.They say that worked towards the installation of new state-of-the-art CCTV cameras for the parade of shops that were installed late 2020.

Councillor Keith Jones, Councillor Lee Bridgeman and Councillor Heather Joyce said they will be asking police to review any CCTV footage from the scene.Councillor Jones said: "This is is the third attempt to ram raid the Co-Op in three years."We will not tolerate such lawlessness at the heart of our community, at a much loved parade of shops.""They calmly responded to a dangerous situation and we are grateful that they are all safe," he said."If you know of any details regarding this incident or the identifies of those who sought to bring harm to our community then please get in contact with ourselves or South Wales Police."

One of the last incidents at the store was in January 2020 when alcohol, tobacco and cigarettes were stolen in a ram-raid.

The thieves damaged the store by ramming the shutter with a vehicle and forcing it upwards before using a brick to smash the shop’s front window.John, who works at a a shop nearby, said: "I woke up this morning and saw it all over Facebook and wondered what had happened.

"This is the third time something like this has happened at this Co-op."The other two were ram raids about two years ago. Whatever they did looks quite advanced. It’s been blown all over the road."

Anyone with information is asked to contact South Wales Police on 101or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111