A house was blown apart in what is believed to have been a gas explosion in Bradford this morning.

The incident occurred at about half past eight when escaping gas, coming from a bungalow in between Melbourne Place and Sawney Place, is believed to have ignited, blowing the roof off.

Shaken neighbours described how their beds shook in the blast which totally demolished the bungalow. The force of the explosion blew out windows in surrounding houses.

Speaking to the Telegraph & Argus one man said: "It was a hell of a way to wake up in the morning. The whole house shook. We just heard this huge bang, my heart was in my mouth. I phoned the emergency services. It must have been a gas leak which exploded, we don't know whether there was anybody inside the bungalow or not."

Another man suffered a minor foot injury after running into what was left of the building to see if anyone was trapped inside. He said: "We didn't know what happened, I ran in but it was all just rubble. I don't think there was anyone in there."

Fire Crews from Bradford, Odsal and Leeds attended the scene as did the specialised urban search and rescue squad, established after September 11 to deal with the aftermath of terrorist attacks or natural disasters. A 200 metre perimeter was cordoned off on Little Horton Lane by police and fire crews fearing a further explosion. At least a dozen emergency service vehicles were present. Search teams and paramedics in protective clothing attended the incident and the street was evacuated for several hours. A local community centre was opened for the evacuated residents although many chose to stay at the scene. One elderly man authoritatively told all and sundry that a bomb had gone off.

One individual, a man in his 60s or 70s was taken to hospital by paramedics, apparently suffering from a possible heart attack which may have been caused by the chaos in the street. He had not been injured in the blast.

Incident Commander Damian Brown from Keighley Fire and Rescue said: "We received a report at around 8.30. It appears that there was a gas leak but we cannot be entirely certain and will continue to investigate. We established an inner cordon of 200m around the site of the explosion which appears to have been at No 7 Sawney Place."

Chris Clarke Station Manger at Odsal said: "The explosion was in a single story property built between two terraces. This was a severe explosion which lifted the roof off and blew all four walls out. The building was totally destroyed. The Urban Search and Rescue team are digging through the rubble and there is reasonable access and we have to work on the assumption that there may be someone trapped .

"Fortunately no-one in the surrounding houses appears to have been injured in the blast. A number of windows were broken but there doesn't appear to be any major structural damage to any other property. It will probably be well into next week before we can establish the exact cause of the explosion."