Two men are being treated for burns after an explosion destroyed a house in a Barnstaple town centre street.

The explosion at 4.20am in Trinity Street is believed to be linked to gas cylinders at the property.

The blast blew the roof off the house, scattering debris across the street and onto the roofs of neighbouring homes.

Two people are understood to have escaped from the house but suffered burns. They were first taken to North Devon District Hospital but later flown by the Chivenor rescue helicopters to the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery at Morriston Hospital, Swansea.

Insp Anne Higgins, police incident commander, said: "There was a large explosion in Trinity Street between 4.30am and 5am. The blast was felt by a lot of residents from a fair distance away.

"Police and fire crews were called to the scene and found a residential building well alight. There was a large amount of debris strewn all over the street and several neighbouring properties suffered smashed windows and damage to their cars. Fire crews worked hard to extinguish the blaze which may have involved gas.

Police said they were treating the area as a crime scene until the cause of the fire was determined.

Rhys Evans, group commander at Barnstaple fire station, was one of the first fire fighters on the scene.

He said: "The building was completely destroyed by the explosion and there's been significant structural damage to some of the neighbouring properties."

Geoff Morton was evacuated from his house on neighbouring Litchdon Street. He said: "I woke up to the biggest bang you could imagine, it was a huge shock and very frightening.

"It was a windy night and at first I thought my chimney had fallen through the roof and scattered debris everywhere.

"My first concern was to get my wife and kids out of the house as quickly as possible.

"The police arrived very quickly and evacuated a few of us to Barum Court. They've handled the whole thing brilliantly and taken good care of us."

Stella Smith, 82, also lives on Litchdon Street, just 50 yards from the house where the explosion occurred.

She said: "I was up around 4.30am anyway when I heard a huge bang, I wasn't sure whether it was real or not. I looked out of the window to see what was happening but it was very dark and I couldn't see anything."

"Police officers told me there'd been an explosion and debris from the blast landed inches away from my house.

"I am currently within the cordoned off area. My daughter was supposed to be visiting this morning but I've told her not to come."

Dave Brown told the North Devon Journal: "Debris reached as far as the cottages several houses down the road with bits landing on the roofs and windows of nieghbouring buildings.

"The explosion resembled something out of a war film and woke me up. From the open window i could hear someone screaming in fear or pain it was hard to tell then it stopped. The explosion alone ripped apart the house like it was made of playing cards."

Chris Rupert, 61, lives on across the road from the where the incident happened. He said: "I was in bed and it was about 4am and I heard one big bang and it made me jump out of bed. I looked out the window and there was a hell of a big blaze shooting up from the house. It’s not the sort of thing you expect to wake up to on a Monday morning."

Jason Severn, 39, lives on Salem Street. He said: "I heard a huge bang and then heard screams. I opened my bedroom window and I heard someone crying ‘Help Me, help me.’ The screams were absolutely harrowing. From our windows, you could see the flames. They were huge."

Martin Hill and Josh Wise, both 17, live on Litchdon Street, behind the house where the explosion occurred. Martin said: "First of all I thought a car had crashed. There was a huge great rumble for about half a second. I got up to see what was going on but before I could turn the light on, there was an explosion and screaming and all the windows smashed. The screams were eerie as hell. My initial reaction was to get every one out of the house.

"We came out to the back garden and you could see the flames over the top. The windows on our first floor have all smashed and half of the roof came into our garden. We had a four-year-old in the house and a 4 x 4 rafter came through the roof and it was just shooting out over the kid’s bed. We spoke to one lady who had come out of her house and her eyes were welling up. She said the loud random explosion reminded her of being in the war and was bringing back awful memories."

Josh said: "There were three fire engines, two ambulances, and two police cars. The police came and knocked all down our road and told us all to get out of our houses. We grabbed the kid and came out saw about 20 people in the street, and about 30 or 40 ft flames coming over the top. Hats off to the emergency services; they were here straight away. Our windows are shattered."

Paul Bourton, Emergency Planning Officer at North Devon Council said : "It seems it is gas cylinders which have caused this. We have got the housing department making sure everyone is ok and Barum Court are being great, providing everyone with tea and shelter. Building control is also making sure the building is safe. Everyone is back in their homes, apart from Litchdon Street. We have to keep an eye on it until the smouldering stops, which could take some time."

Several people were evacuated from their homes and at one point 30 were being housed at a nearby care home.

There were several police cars and an ambulance at the scene this morning.

Police cordoned off a large area around the property and are asking people to stay away from the area.

LATEST STORY: Two seriously injured as blast blows house apart like a 'pack of cards'