A fire service probe into an explosion that blew most off the back off a house has been held back amid safety fears.

A spokesman for the Fire Service said an investigation into the blast, which set the Pembroke house ablaze and severely damaged the building, could only continue after structural engineers said it was safe to do so.

The spokesman said: “Right now the fire is still under active investigation.

“We are waiting on the structural engineers to determine if it’s safe to go back inside to continue the investigation safely.”

The blast, at a home on Railway Terrace West in the early hours of Sunday morning, rocked the area and threw rubble into the garden of a neighbouring home.

A 54-year-old woman, who occupied the rear lower apartment in the three-apartment house, escaped with minor burns.

Neighbours said she was able to free herself from the rubble.

One said that if the woman had not got up to go the toilet in the early hours she could have been crushed as the floor above crashed into her bedroom.

The injured woman’s elderly father, who lived in the upper apartment, and another ground floor tenant escaped injury.