A terraced home has been rebuilt a year on from a major explosion which rocked a neighbourhood in Blackburn.
The incident during the evening of Sunday December 17 in London Road affected three properties with one being destroyed in the blast.
The barber shop next door, London Road Barbers, was also damaged in the explosion. Above the barber shop were flats.
Rubble was strewn across the street, and fire teams evacuated residents from adjoining streets for their safety.
Some parked cars were destroyed, while CCTV showed another vehicle passing the home immediately before the explosion.
Two people were taken to hospital, including a man who was believed to be a worker at the site. He was miraculously pulled from the rubble and escaped any serious injuries.
A family who were renting the property was due back at a house moments before it was destroyed.
Nearby homes had been evacuated but most of the families, including those on Inkerman Street, were allowed back into their homes.
Soon after the incident the road was closed for a day as emergency teams made the area safe. One side of the road was reopened but with much of the building destroyed and damage to the adjoining structures the area remained cordoned off.
London Road is one of the major routes through the Brookhouse area and is close to one of the biggest mosques in the town – the Blackburn Markaz.
Whilst work to renovate the property was slow at the beginning of the year, during the summer the house was re-built. The front wall and the interior of the building have been completed but the windows pains still need to be fitted. The interior remains a shell though.
The terraced home was destroyed in the blastLondon Road Gents Hair Cutting was shut for a number of weeks as the building was deemed unsafe. Regular customers have since returned to support the popular business which has been based at the location for 17 years.
Corporation Park and Shear Brow Cllr Suleman Khonat said: “I am glad that things have got back to some level of normality.
“The family has been very patient too.
“It was of course quite worrying at the time and someone could have quite easily been killed.
“There was support from the local community and the council and we were pleased to offer whatever support we could at the time.
“It is also wonderful to see the hairdressers open through the year. He is very popular with the local community.”